Ezekiel 21:23

21:23 But those in Jerusalem ¹  will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, ²  but the king of Babylon ³  will accuse them of violations ⁴  in order to seize them. ⁵ 

Ezekiel 13:23

13:23 Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you ⁶  will know that I am the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 22:28

22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. ⁷  They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

Ezekiel 13:9

13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council ⁸  of my people, nor be written in the registry ⁹  of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 21:21

21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork ¹⁰  in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: ¹¹  He shakes arrows, he consults idols, ¹²  he examines ¹³  animal livers. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 21:29

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹⁵  –

to place that sword ¹⁶  on the necks of the profane wicked, ¹⁷ 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

[21:23]  ¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ² sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).

[21:23]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ⁴ tn Or “iniquity.”

[21:23]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt for the purpose of being captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18).

[13:23]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew verb is feminine plural, indicating that it is the false prophetesses who are addressed here.

[22:28]  ¹¹ tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.

[13:9]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the Lord (Jer 23:18; Job 15:8), but here it more likely refers to a human council comprised of civic leaders (Gen 49:6; Jer 6:11; 15:17 Ps 64:3; 111:1).

[13:9]  ¹⁷ tn The reference here is probably to a civil list (as in Ezra 2:16; Neh 7:64) rather than to a “book of life” (Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Ps 69:29; Dan 12:1). This registry may have been established at the making of David’s census (2 Sam 24:2, 9).

[21:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “mother.”

[21:21]  ²² sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.

[21:21]  ²³ tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).

[21:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “sees.”

[21:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the liver.”

[21:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.

[21:29]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ²⁸ sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.