Ezekiel 39:17-24

39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ¹  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood. 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors ²  and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan. 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, ³  at my slaughter ⁴  which I have made for you. 39:20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers, ⁵  with warriors and all the soldiers,’ declares the sovereign Lord.

39:21 “I will display my majesty ⁶  among the nations. All the nations will witness the judgment I have executed, and the power I have exhibited ⁷  among them. 39:22 Then the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. 39:23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity, ⁸  for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies; all of them died by the sword. 39:24 According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.

[39:17]  ¹ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:18]  ² sn See Rev 19:17-18.

[39:19]  ³ sn Eating the fat and drinking blood were God’s exclusive rights in Israelite sacrifices (Lev 3:17).

[39:19]  ⁴ tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).

[39:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “chariots.”

[39:21]  ⁵ tn Or “my glory.”

[39:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “my hand which I have placed.”

[39:23]  ⁶ tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.