Ezekiel 20:30-39

20:30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers ¹  and engage in prostitution with detestable idols? 20:31 When you present your sacrifices ²  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ³  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ⁴ 

20:32 “‘What you plan ⁵  will never happen. You say, “We will be ⁶  like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” ⁷  20:33 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm, ⁸  and with an outpouring of rage, I will be king over you. 20:34 I will bring you out from the nations, and will gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm and with an outpouring of rage! 20:35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 20:36 Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the sovereign Lord. 20:37 I will make you pass under ⁹  the shepherd’s staff, ¹⁰  and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 20:38 I will eliminate from among you the rebels and those who revolt ¹¹  against me. I will bring them out from the land where they have been residing, but they will not come to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, ¹²  if you will not listen to me. ¹³  But my holy name will not be profaned ¹⁴  again by your sacrifices ¹⁵  and your idols.

[20:30]  ¹ tn Heb “in the way of your fathers.”

[20:31]  ² tn Or “gifts.”

[20:31]  ³ tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

[20:31]  ⁴ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”

[20:32]  ⁵ tn Heb “what comes upon your mind.”

[20:32]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew could also read: “Let us be.”

[20:32]  ⁷ tn Heb “serving wood and stone.”

[20:33]  ⁸ sn This phrase occurs frequently in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8).

[20:37]  ⁹ tn This is the same Hebrew verb used to describe the passing of the children through the fire.

[20:37]  ¹⁰ sn The metaphor may be based in Lev 27:32 (see also Jer 33:13; Matt 25:32-33). A shepherd would count his sheep as they passed beneath his staff.

[20:38]  ¹¹ tn See the note at 2:3.

[20:39]  ¹² sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.

[20:39]  ¹³ tn Heb “and after, if you will not listen to me.” The translation leaves out “and after” for smoothness. The text is difficult. M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:374) suggests that it may mean “but afterwards, if you will not listen to me…” with an unspoken threat.

[20:39]  ¹⁴ sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.

[20:39]  ¹⁵ tn Or “gifts.”