Ezekiel 11:16-17

11:16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little ¹  sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’

11:17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’

Ezekiel 12:23

12:23 Therefore tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: I hereby end this proverb; they will not recite it in Israel any longer.’ But say to them, ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ² 

Ezekiel 12:28

12:28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer! The word I speak will come to pass, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 17:9

17:9 “‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Will it prosper?

Will he not rip out its roots

and cause its fruit to rot ³  and wither?

All its foliage ⁴  will wither.

No strong arm or large army

will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 17:12

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ⁶  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ⁷  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ⁸  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.

Ezekiel 24:21

24:21 Say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Realize I am about to desecrate my sanctuary – the source of your confident pride, ⁹  the object in which your eyes delight, ¹⁰  and your life’s passion. ¹¹  Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die ¹²  by the sword.

Ezekiel 28:2

28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince ¹³  of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Your heart is proud ¹⁴  and you said, “I am a god; ¹⁵ 

I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” –

yet you are a man and not a god,

though you think you are godlike. ¹⁶ 

Ezekiel 29:3

29:3 Tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Look, I am against ¹⁷  you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,

the great monster ¹⁸  lying in the midst of its waterways,

who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.” ¹⁹ 

Ezekiel 36:22

36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ²⁰  which you profaned among the nations where you went.

[11:16]  ¹ tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).

[12:23]  ² tn Heb “the days draw near and the word of every vision (draws near).”

[17:9]  ³ tn The Hebrew root occurs only here in the OT and appears to have the meaning of “strip off.” In application to fruit the meaning may be “cause to rot.”

[17:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.

[17:9]  ⁵ tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”

[17:12]  ⁴ tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

[17:12]  ⁵ sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

[17:12]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[24:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”

[24:21]  ⁶ sn Heb “the delight of your eyes.” Just as Ezekiel was deprived of his beloved wife (v. 16, the “desire” of his “eyes”) so the Lord would be forced to remove the object of his devotion, the temple, which symbolized his close relationship to his covenant people.

[24:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “the object of compassion of your soul.” The accentuation in the traditional Hebrew text indicates that the descriptive phrases (“the source of your confident pride, the object in which your eyes delight, and your life’s passion”) modify the preceding “my sanctuary.”

[24:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “fall.”

[28:2]  ⁶ tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).

[28:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “lifted up.”

[28:2]  ⁸ tn Or “I am divine.”

[28:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you made your heart (mind) like the heart (mind) of gods.”

[29:3]  ⁷ tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

[29:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “jackals,” but many medieval Hebrew mss read correctly “the serpent.” The Hebrew term appears to refer to a serpent in Exod 7:9-10, 12; Deut 32:33; and Ps 91:13. It also refers to large creatures that inhabit the sea (Gen 1:21; Ps 148:7). In several passages it is associated with the sea or with the multiheaded sea monster Leviathan (Job 7:12; Ps 74:13; Isa 27:1; 51:9). Because of the Egyptian setting of this prophecy and the reference to the creature’s scales (v. 4), many understand a crocodile to be the referent here (e.g., NCV “a great crocodile”; TEV “you monster crocodile”; CEV “a giant crocodile”).

[29:3]  ⁹ sn In Egyptian theology Pharaoh owned and controlled the Nile. See J. D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, 240-44.

[36:22]  ⁸ sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.