33:21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month, 1 a refugee came to me from Jerusalem 2 saying, “The city has been defeated!” 3 33:22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me 4 the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord 5 opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived 6 in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak. 7 33:23 The word of the Lord came to me: 33:24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ 8 33:25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, 9 pray to 10 your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess 11 the land? 33:26 You rely 12 on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’
33:27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die 13 by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 33:28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 33:29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’ 14
1 tn January 19, 585
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tn Heb “smitten.”
4 tn The other occurrences of the phrase “the hand of the
5 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “by the time of the arrival to me.” For clarity the translation specifies the refugee as the one who arrived.
7 sn Ezekiel’s God-imposed muteness was lifted (see 3:26).
7 sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.
10 sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).
11 tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”
12 tn Heb “Will you possess?”
13 tn Heb “stand.”
16 tn Heb “fall.”
19 sn The judgments of vv. 27-29 echo the judgments of Lev 26:22, 25.