Discovery BoxEzekiel 4:1--24:27
Context4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick 1 and set it in front of you. Inscribe 2 a city on it – Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp 3 against it! Post soldiers outside it 4 and station battering rams around it. 4:3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan 5 and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign 6 for the house of Israel.
4:4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity 7 of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days 8 for you – 390 days. 9 So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 10
4:6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days 11 – I have assigned one day for each year. 4:7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 4:8 Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege. 12
4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, 13 put them in a single container, and make food 14 from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days 15 – you will eat it. 4:10 The food you eat will be eight ounces 16 a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed 17 times. 4:11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half; 18 you must drink it at fixed times. 4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.” 19 4:13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations 20 where I will banish them.”
4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat 21 has never entered my mouth.”
4:15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”
4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply 22 in Jerusalem. 23 They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity. 24
5:1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor. 25 Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard. 26 Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 5:2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 5:3 But take a few strands of hair 27 from those and tie them in the ends of your garment. 28 5:4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire, 29 and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.
5:5 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her. 5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations 30 and the countries around her. 31 Indeed, they 32 have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.
5:7 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant 33 than the nations around you, 34 you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even 35 carried out the regulations of the nations around you!
5:8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: I – even I – am against you, 36 and I will execute judgment 37 among you while the nations watch. 38 5:9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices. 39 5:10 Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, 40 and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors 41 to the winds. 42
5:11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare 43 you. 5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. 44 A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, 45 and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 5:13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. 46 Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy 47 when I have fully vented my rage against them.
5:14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 5:15 You will be 48 an object of scorn and taunting, 49 a prime example of destruction 50 among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. 51 I, the Lord, have spoken! 5:16 I will shoot against them deadly, 52 destructive 53 arrows of famine, 54 which I will shoot to destroy you. 55 I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. 56 5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you. 57 Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you, 58 and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
6:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 6:2 “Son of man, turn toward 59 the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them: 6:3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, 60 Hear the word of the sovereign Lord! 61 This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing 62 a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 63 6:4 Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols. 64 6:5 I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, 65 and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6:6 In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out. 66 6:7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord. 67
6:8 “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands. 68 6:9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize 69 how I was crushed by their unfaithful 70 heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves 71 because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices. 6:10 They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.’ 72
6:11 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, “Ah!” because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence. 73 6:12 The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these 74 will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them. 6:13 Then you will know that I am the Lord – when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak, 75 the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 6:14 I will stretch out my hand against them 76 and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah, 77 in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
7:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 7:2 “You, son of man – this is what the sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: An end! The end is coming on the four corners of the land! 78 7:3 The end is now upon you, and I will release my anger against you; I will judge 79 you according to your behavior, 80 I will hold you accountable for 81 all your abominable practices. 7:4 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare 82 you. 83 For I will hold you responsible for your behavior, 84 and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. 85 Then you will know that I am the Lord!
7:5 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: A disaster 86 – a one-of-a-kind 87 disaster – is coming! 7:6 An end comes 88 – the end comes! 89 It has awakened against you 90 – the end is upon you! Look, it is coming! 91 7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day 92 is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains. 93 7:8 Soon now I will pour out my rage 94 on you; I will fully vent my anger against you. I will judge you according to your behavior. I will hold you accountable for all your abominable practices. 7:9 My eye will not pity you; I will not spare 95 you. For your behavior I will hold you accountable, 96 and you will suffer the consequences of your abominable practices. Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who is striking you. 97
7:10 “Look, the day! Look, it is coming! Doom has gone out! The staff has budded, pride has blossomed! 7:11 Violence 98 has grown into a staff that supports wickedness. Not one of them will be left 99 – not from their crowd, not from their wealth, not from their prominence. 100 7:12 The time has come; the day has struck! The customer should not rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for divine wrath 101 comes against their whole crowd. 7:13 The customer will no longer pay the seller 102 while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd 103 will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity, 104 will fail to preserve his life.
7:14 “They have blown the trumpet and everyone is ready, but no one goes to battle, because my anger is against their whole crowd. 105 7:15 The sword is outside; pestilence and famine are inside the house. Whoever is in the open field will die by the sword, and famine and pestilence will consume everyone in the city. 7:16 Their survivors will escape to the mountains and become like doves of the valleys; all of them will moan – each one for his iniquity. 7:17 All of their hands will hang limp; their knees will be wet with urine. 106 7:18 They will wear sackcloth, terror will cover them; shame will be on all their faces, and all of their heads will be shaved bald. 107 7:19 They will discard their silver in the streets, and their gold will be treated like filth. 108 Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord’s fury. 109 They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs because their wealth 110 was the obstacle leading to their iniquity. 111 7:20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride, 112 and with it they made their abominable images – their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them. 7:21 I will give it to foreigners as loot, to the world’s wicked ones as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 7:22 I will turn my face away from them and they will desecrate my treasured place. 113 Vandals will enter it and desecrate it. 114 7:23 (Make the chain, 115 because the land is full of murder 116 and the city is full of violence.) 7:24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries 117 will be desecrated. 7:25 Terror 118 is coming! They will seek peace, but find none. 7:26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders. 7:27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice 119 I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
8:1 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth of the month, 120 as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting in front of me, the hand 121 of the sovereign Lord seized me. 122 8:2 As I watched, I noticed 123 a form that appeared to be a man. 124 From his waist downward was something like fire, 125 and from his waist upward something like a brightness, 126 like an amber glow. 127 8:3 He stretched out the form 128 of a hand and grabbed me by a lock of hair on my head. Then a wind 129 lifted me up between the earth and sky and brought me to Jerusalem 130 by means of divine visions, to the door of the inner gate which faces north where the statue 131 which provokes to jealousy was located. 8:4 Then I perceived that the glory of the God of Israel was there, as in the vision I had seen earlier in the valley.
8:5 He said to me, “Son of man, look up toward 132 the north.” So I looked up toward the north, and I noticed to the north of the altar gate was this statue of jealousy at the entrance.
8:6 He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing – the great abominations that the people 133 of Israel are practicing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see greater abominations than these!”
8:7 He brought me to the entrance of the court, and as I watched, I noticed a hole in the wall. 8:8 He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway.
8:9 He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure 134 of creeping thing and beast – detestable images 135 – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 136 8:11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel 137 (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant 138 vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward.
8:12 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? 139 For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’” 8:13 He said to me, “You will see them practicing even greater abominations!”
8:14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed 140 women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 141 8:15 He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!”
8:16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the Lord’s house. Right there 142 at the entrance to the Lord’s temple, between the porch and the altar, 143 were about twenty-five 144 men with their backs to the Lord’s temple, 145 facing east – they were worshiping the sun 146 toward the east!
8:17 He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! 147 8:18 Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare 148 them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
9:1 Then he shouted in my ears, “Approach, 149 you who are to visit destruction on the city, each with his destructive weapon in his hand!” 9:2 Next, I noticed 150 six men 151 coming from the direction of the upper gate 152 which faces north, each with his war club in his hand. Among them was a man dressed in linen with a writing kit 153 at his side. They came and stood beside the bronze altar.
9:3 Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. 154 He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem 155 and put a mark 156 on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.”
9:5 While I listened, he said to the others, 157 “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do no let your eye pity nor spare 158 anyone! 9:6 Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
9:7 He said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courtyards with corpses. Go!” So they went out and struck people down throughout the city. 9:8 While they were striking them down, I was left alone, and I threw myself face down and cried out, “Ah, sovereign Lord! Will you destroy the entire remnant of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?”
9:9 He said to me, “The sin of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of murder, and the city is full of corruption, 159 for they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land, and the Lord does not see!’ 160 9:10 But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare 161 them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.” 162
9:11 Next I noticed the man dressed in linen with the writing kit at his side bringing back word: “I have done just as you commanded me.”
10:1 As I watched, I saw 163 on the platform 164 above the top of the cherubim something like a sapphire, resembling the shape of a throne, appearing above them. 10:2 The Lord 165 said to the man dressed in linen, “Go between the wheelwork 166 underneath the cherubim. 167 Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” He went as I watched.
10:3 (The cherubim were standing on the south side 168 of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court.) 10:4 Then the glory of the Lord arose from the cherub and moved to the threshold of the temple. The temple was filled with the cloud while the court was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. 10:5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard from the outer court, like the sound of the sovereign God 169 when he speaks.
10:6 When the Lord 170 commanded the man dressed in linen, “Take fire from within the wheelwork, from among the cherubim,” the man 171 went in and stood by one of the wheels. 172 10:7 Then one of the cherubim 173 stretched out his hand 174 toward the fire which was among the cherubim. He took some and put it into the hands of the man dressed in linen, who took it and left. 10:8 (The cherubim appeared to have the form 175 of human hands under their wings.)
10:9 As I watched, I noticed 176 four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub; 177 the wheels gleamed like jasper. 178 10:10 As for their appearance, all four of them looked the same, something like a wheel within a wheel. 179 10:11 When they 180 moved, they would go in any of the four directions they faced without turning as they moved; in the direction the head would turn they would follow 181 without turning as they moved, 10:12 along with their entire bodies, 182 their backs, their hands, and their wings. The wheels of the four of them were full of eyes all around. 10:13 As for their wheels, they were called “the wheelwork” 183 as I listened. 10:14 Each of the cherubim 184 had four faces: The first was the face of a cherub, 185 the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.
10:15 The cherubim rose up; these were the living beings 186 I saw at the Kebar River. 10:16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels moved beside them; when the cherubim spread 187 their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not move from their side. 10:17 When the cherubim 188 stood still, the wheels 189 stood still, and when they rose up, the wheels 190 rose up with them, for the spirit 191 of the living beings 192 was in the wheels. 193
10:18 Then the glory of the Lord moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 10:19 The cherubim spread 194 their wings, and they rose up from the earth 195 while I watched (when they went the wheels went alongside them). They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s temple as the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them.
10:20 These were the living creatures 196 which I saw at the Kebar River underneath the God of Israel; I knew that they were cherubim. 10:21 Each had four faces; each had four wings and the form of human hands under the wings. 10:22 As for the form of their faces, they were the faces whose appearance I had seen at the Kebar River. Each one moved straight ahead.
11:1 A wind 197 lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. 198 11:2 The Lord 199 said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. 11:3 They say, 200 ‘The time is not near to build houses; 201 the city 202 is a cooking pot 203 and we are the meat in it.’ 11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”
11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came 204 upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, 205 O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. 206 11:6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ 11:7 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped 207 in the midst of the city 208 are the meat, and this city 209 is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. 210 11:8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the sovereign Lord. 11:9 ‘But I will take you out of the city. 211 And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 11:10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11:11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not 212 be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 11:12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”
11:13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!” 213
11:14 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 11:15 “Son of man, your brothers, 214 your relatives, 215 and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem 216 have said, ‘They have gone 217 far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’
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 218 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.’
11:18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 11:19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; 219 I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies 220 and I will give them tender hearts, 221 11:20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 222 11:21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, 223 says the sovereign Lord.”
11:22 Then the cherubim spread 224 their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 11:23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped 225 over the mountain east of it. 11:24 Then a wind 226 lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, 227 in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me. 11:25 So I told the exiles everything 228 the Lord had shown me.
12:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:2 “Son of man, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house. 229 They have eyes to see, but do not see, and ears to hear, but do not hear, 230 because they are a rebellious house.
12:3 “Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if for exile. During the day, while they are watching, pretend to go into exile. Go from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will understand, 231 although they are a rebellious house. 12:4 Bring out your belongings packed for exile during the day while they are watching. And go out at evening, while they are watching, as if for exile. 12:5 While they are watching, dig a hole in the wall and carry your belongings out through it. 12:6 While they are watching, raise your baggage onto your shoulder and carry it out in the dark. 232 You must cover your face so that you cannot see the ground 233 because I have made you an object lesson 234 to the house of Israel.”
12:7 So I did just as I was commanded. I carried out my belongings packed for exile during the day, and at evening I dug myself a hole through the wall with my hands. I went out in the darkness, carrying my baggage 235 on my shoulder while they watched.
12:8 The word of the Lord came to me in the morning: 12:9 “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 12:10 Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, 236 and all the house of Israel within it.’ 237 12:11 Say, ‘I am an object lesson for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile and captivity.’
12:12 “The prince 238 who is among them will raise his belongings 239 onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He 240 will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. 12:13 But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans 241 (but he will not see it), 242 and there he will die. 243 12:14 All his retinue – his attendants and his troops – I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.
12:15 “Then they will know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among foreign countries. 12:16 But I will let a small number of them survive the sword, famine, and pestilence, so that they can confess all their abominable practices to the nations where they go. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
12:17 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:18 “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, 244 and drink your water with anxious shaking. 12:19 Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in fright, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it. 12:20 The inhabited towns will be left in ruins and the land will be devastated. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
12:21 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:22 “Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel, ‘The days pass slowly, and every vision fails’? 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. 245 12:24 For there will no longer be any false visions or flattering omens amidst the house of Israel. 12:25 For I, the Lord, will speak. Whatever word I speak will be accomplished. It will not be delayed any longer. Indeed in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and accomplish it, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
12:26 The word of the Lord came to me: 12:27 “Take note, son of man, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for distant days; he is prophesying about the far future.’ 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.’”
13:1 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 13:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to the prophets who prophesy from their imagination: 246 ‘Hear the word of the Lord! 13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing! 13:4 Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel. 13:5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the Lord. 13:6 They see delusion and their omens are a lie. 247 They say, “the Lord declares,” though the Lord has not sent them; 248 yet they expect their word to be confirmed. 249 13:7 Have you not seen a false vision and announced a lying omen when you say, “the Lord declares,” although I myself never spoke?
13:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, 250 I am against you, 251 declares the sovereign Lord. 13:9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council 252 of my people, nor be written in the registry 253 of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.
13:10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying, “All is well,” 254 when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, 255 they coat it with whitewash. 13:11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones 256 will fall and a violent wind will break out. 257 13:12 When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you, “Where is the whitewash you coated it with?”
13:13 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury. 13:14 I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, 258 and you will know that I am the Lord. 13:15 I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you, “The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more – 13:16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem 259 and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the sovereign Lord.’
13:17 “As for you, son of man, turn toward 260 the daughters of your people who are prophesying from their imagination. 261 Prophesy against them 13:18 and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands 262 on all their wrists 263 and make headbands 264 for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! 265 Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives? 13:19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. You have put to death people 266 who should not die and kept alive those who should not live by your lies to my people, who listen to lies!
13:20 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note 267 that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people’s lives 268 like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people’s lives, which you hunt like birds. 13:21 I will tear off your headbands and rescue my people from your power; 269 they will no longer be prey in your hands. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life. 13:23 Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you 270 will know that I am the Lord.’”
14:1 Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me. 14:2 The word of the Lord came to me: 14:3 “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity 271 right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek 272 me? 14:4 Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry. 273 14:5 I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.’
14:6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations. 14:7 For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally. 14:8 I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword 274 and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
14:9 “‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word – I, the Lord, have made a fool of 275 that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. 14:10 They will bear their punishment; 276 the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it 277 14:11 so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God, 278 declares the sovereign Lord.’”
14:12 The word of the Lord came to me: 14:13 “Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply, 279 cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals. 14:14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, 280 and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.
14:15 “Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals. 14:16 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.
14:17 “Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals. 14:18 Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters – they would save only their own lives.
14:19 “Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. 14:20 Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
14:21 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments – sword, famine, wild animals, and plague – to Jerusalem 281 to kill both people and animals! 14:22 Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem – for everything I brought on it. 14:23 They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”
15:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 15:2 “Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine? 282 15:3 Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? 15:4 No! 283 It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? 15:5 Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?
15:6 “Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire – so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem 284 as fuel. 285 15:7 I will set 286 my face against them – although they have escaped from the fire, 287 the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. 15:8 I will make 288 the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”
16:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 16:2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem 289 with her abominable practices 16:3 and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 16:4 As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water; 290 you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets. 291 16:5 No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you; 292 you were thrown out into the open field 293 because you were detested on the day you were born.
16:6 “‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” 294 16:7 I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.
16:8 “‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing 295 that you had reached the age for love. 296 I spread my cloak 297 over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
16:9 “‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil. 16:10 I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 16:11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. 16:12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. 16:13 You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty. 16:14 Your fame 298 spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord. 299
16:15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty 300 became his. 16:16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. 301 16:17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution 302 with them. 16:18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 16:19 As for my food that I gave you – the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you – you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.
16:20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them 303 as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, 16:21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 304 16:22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.
16:23 “‘After all of your evil – “Woe! Woe to you!” declares the sovereign Lord – 16:24 you built yourself a chamber 305 and put up a pavilion 306 in every public square. 16:25 At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced 307 your beauty when you spread 308 your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity. 16:26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your sexually aroused neighbors, 309 multiplying your promiscuity and provoking me to anger. 16:27 So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed by your obscene conduct. 16:28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your sexual desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. 16:29 Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia, 310 but you were not satisfied there either.
16:30 “‘How sick is your heart, declares the sovereign Lord, when you perform all of these acts, the deeds of a bold prostitute. 16:31 When you built your chamber at the head of every street and put up your pavilion in every public square, you were not like a prostitute, because you scoffed at payment. 311
16:32 “‘Adulterous wife, who prefers strangers instead of her own husband! 16:33 All prostitutes receive payment, 312 but instead you give gifts to every one of your lovers. You bribe them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors! 16:34 You were different from other prostitutes 313 because no one solicited you. When you gave payment and no payment was given to you, you became the opposite!
16:35 “‘Therefore O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: 16:36 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because your lust 314 was poured out and your nakedness was uncovered in your prostitution with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children you have given to them, 16:37 therefore, take note: I am about to gather all your lovers whom you enjoyed, both all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around, and I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see all your nakedness. 315 16:38 I will punish you as an adulteress and murderer deserves. 316 I will avenge your bloody deeds with furious rage. 317 16:39 I will give you into their hands and they will destroy your chambers and tear down your pavilions. They will strip you of your clothing and take your beautiful jewelry and leave you naked and bare. 16:40 They will summon a mob who will stone you and hack you in pieces with their swords. 16:41 They will burn down your houses and execute judgments on you in front of many women. Thus I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer give gifts to your clients. 318 16:42 I will exhaust my rage on you, and then my fury will turn from you. I will calm down and no longer be angry.
16:43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth and have enraged me with all these deeds, I hereby repay you for what you have done, 319 declares the sovereign Lord. Have you not engaged in prostitution on top of all your other abominable practices?
16:44 “‘Observe – everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 16:45 You are the daughter of your mother, who detested her husband and her sons, and you are the sister of your sisters who detested their husbands and their sons. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 16:46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived north 320 of you with her daughters, and your younger sister, who lived south 321 of you, was Sodom 322 with her daughters. 16:47 Have you not copied their behavior 323 and practiced their abominable deeds? In a short time 324 you became even more depraved in all your conduct than they were! 16:48 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never behaved as wickedly as you and your daughters have behaved.
16:49 “‘See here – this was the iniquity 325 of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters had majesty, abundance of food, and enjoyed carefree ease, but they did not help 326 the poor and needy. 16:50 They were haughty and practiced abominable deeds before me. Therefore when I saw it I removed them. 16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. 327 You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 16:52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. 328 Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.
16:53 “‘I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, and the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters (along with your fortunes among them), 16:54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in consoling them. 16:55 As for your sisters, Sodom and her daughters will be restored to their former status, Samaria and her daughters will be restored to their former status, and you and your daughters will be restored to your former status. 16:56 In your days of majesty, 329 was not Sodom your sister a byword in your mouth, 16:57 before your evil was exposed? Now you have become an object of scorn to the daughters of Aram 330 and all those around her and to the daughters of the Philistines – those all around you who despise you. 16:58 You must bear your punishment for your obscene conduct and your abominable practices, declares the Lord.
16:59 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant. 16:60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish a lasting 331 covenant with you. 16:61 Then you will remember your conduct, and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on account of my covenant with you. 16:62 I will establish my covenant with you, and then you will know that I am the Lord. 16:63 Then you will remember, be ashamed, and remain silent 332 when I make atonement for all you have done, 333 declares the sovereign Lord.’”
17:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 17:2 “Son of man, offer a riddle, 334 and tell a parable to the house of Israel. 17:3 Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: 335
“‘A great eagle 336 with broad wings, long feathers, 337
with full plumage which was multi-hued, 338
came to Lebanon 339 and took the top of the cedar.
17:4 He plucked off its topmost shoot;
he brought it to a land of merchants
and planted it in a city of traders.
17:5 He took one of the seedlings 340 of the land,
placed it in a cultivated plot; 341
a shoot by abundant water,
like a willow he planted it.
17:6 It sprouted and became a vine,
spreading low to the ground; 342
its branches turning toward him, 343 its roots were under itself. 344
So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.
17:7 “‘There was another great eagle 345
with broad wings and thick plumage.
Now this vine twisted its roots toward him
and sent its branches toward him
to be watered from the soil where it was planted.
17:8 In a good field, by abundant waters, it was planted
to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.
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 346 and wither?
All its foliage 347 will wither.
No strong arm or large army
will be needed to pull it out by its roots. 348
17:10 Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper?
Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it?
Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?’”
17:11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: 349 ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ 350 Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem 351 and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon. 17:13 He took one from the royal family, 352 made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. 353 He then took the leaders of the land 17:14 so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand. 17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family 354 rebelled against the king of Babylon 355 by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?
17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city 356 of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help 357 him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note 358 – he gave his promise 359 and did all these things – he will not escape!
17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him 360 for despising my oath and breaking my covenant! 17:20 I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me. 17:21 All the choice men 361 among his troops will die 362 by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken!
17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘I will take a sprig 363 from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. 364
I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;
I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
17:23 I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,
and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.
Every bird will live under it;
Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.
17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.
I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.
I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.
I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”
18:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 18:2 “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
“‘The fathers eat sour grapes
And the children’s teeth become numb?’ 365
18:3 “As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, 366 you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! 18:4 Indeed! All lives are mine – the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one 367 who sins will die.
18:5 “Suppose a man is righteous. He practices what is just and right, 18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains 368 or pray to the idols 369 of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a 370 woman during her period, 18:7 does not oppress anyone, but gives the debtor back whatever was given in pledge, 371 does not commit robbery, 372 but gives his bread to the hungry and clothes the naked, 18:8 does not engage in usury or charge interest, 373 but refrains 374 from wrongdoing, promotes true justice 375 between men, 18:9 and follows my statutes and observes my regulations by carrying them out. 376 That man 377 is righteous; he will certainly live, 378 declares the sovereign Lord.
18:10 “Suppose such a man has 379 a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things 380 mentioned previously 18:11 (though the father did not do any of them). 381 He eats pagan sacrifices on the mountains, 382 defiles his neighbor’s wife, 18:12 oppresses the poor and the needy, 383 commits robbery, does not give back what was given in pledge, prays to 384 idols, performs abominable acts, 18:13 engages in usury and charges interest. Will he live? He will not! Because he has done all these abominable deeds he will certainly die. 385 He will bear the responsibility for his own death. 386
18:14 “But suppose he in turn has a son who notices all the sins his father commits, considers them, and does not follow his father’s example. 387 18:15 He does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains, does not pray to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 18:16 does not oppress anyone or keep what has been given in pledge, does not commit robbery, gives his food to the hungry, and clothes the naked, 18:17 refrains from wrongdoing, 388 does not engage in usury or charge interest, carries out my regulations and follows my statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity; 389 he will surely live. 18:18 As for his father, because he practices extortion, robs his brother, and does what is not good among his people, he will die for his iniquity.
18:19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer 390 for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live. 18:20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer 391 for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer 392 for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness. 393
18:21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 18:22 None of the sins he has committed will be held 394 against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. 18:23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?
18:24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. 395
18:25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct 396 is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? 18:26 When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; 397 because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. 18:27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 18:28 Because he considered 398 and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?
18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, 399 O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent 400 and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. 401 18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! 402 Why should you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, 403 declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
19:1 “And you, sing 404 a lament for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say:
“‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions!
She lay among young lions; 405 she reared her cubs.
19:3 She reared one of her cubs; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people. 406
19:4 The nations heard about him; he was trapped in their pit.
They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 407
19:5 “‘When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope was lost.
She took another of her cubs 408 and made him a young lion.
19:6 He walked about among the lions; he became a young lion.
He learned to tear prey; he devoured people.
19:7 He broke down 409 their strongholds 410 and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it was frightened at the sound of his roaring.
19:8 The nations – the surrounding regions – attacked him.
They threw their net over him; he was caught in their pit.
19:9 They put him in a collar with hooks; 411
they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him to prison 412
so that his voice would not be heard
any longer on the mountains of Israel.
19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, 413 planted by water.
It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
19:11 Its boughs were strong, fit 414 for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches. 415
19:12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind 416 dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered –
a fire consumed them.
19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land. 417
19:14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. 418
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’
This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”
20:1 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, 419 some of the elders 420 of Israel came to seek 421 the Lord, and they sat down in front of me. 20:2 The word of the Lord came to me: 20:3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, 422 declares the sovereign Lord.’ 20:4 “Are you willing to pronounce judgment? 423 Are you willing to pronounce judgment, son of man? Then confront them with the abominable practices of their fathers, 20:5 and say to them:
“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore 424 to the descendants 425 of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore 426 to them, “I am the Lord your God.” 20:6 On that day I swore 427 to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land which I had picked out 428 for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, 429 the most beautiful of all lands. 20:7 I said to them, “Each of you must get rid of the detestable idols you keep before you, 430 and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and refused to listen to me; no one got rid of their detestable idols, 431 nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I decided to pour out 432 my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 20:9 I acted for the sake of my reputation, 433 so that I would not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, 434 before whom I revealed myself by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 435
20:10 “‘So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them to the wilderness. 20:11 I gave them my statutes 436 and revealed my regulations to them. The one 437 who carries 438 them out will live by them! 439 20:12 I also gave them my Sabbaths 440 as a reminder of our relationship, 441 so that they would know that I, the Lord, sanctify them. 442 20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not follow my statutes and they rejected my regulations (the one who obeys them will live by them), and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I decided to pour out 443 my rage on them in the wilderness and destroy them. 444 20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 20:15 I also swore 445 to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 20:16 I did this 446 because they rejected my regulations, did not follow my statutes, and desecrated my Sabbaths; for their hearts followed their idols. 447 20:17 Yet I had pity on 448 them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
20:18 “‘But I said to their children 449 in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, 450 nor defile yourselves with their idols. 20:19 I am the Lord your God; follow my statutes, observe my regulations, and carry them out. 20:20 Treat my Sabbaths as holy 451 and they will be a reminder of our relationship, 452 and then you will know that I am the Lord your God.” 20:21 “‘But the children 453 rebelled against me, did not follow my statutes, did not observe my regulations by carrying them out (the one who obeys 454 them will live by them), and desecrated my Sabbaths. I decided to pour out 455 my rage on them and fully vent my anger against them in the wilderness. 20:22 But I refrained from doing so, 456 and acted instead for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 20:23 I also swore 457 to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. 458 20:24 I did this 459 because they did not observe my regulations, they rejected my statutes, they desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on 460 their fathers’ idols. 20:25 I also gave 461 them decrees 462 which were not good and regulations by which they could not live. 20:26 I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices 463 – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire 464 – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ 465
20:27 “Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me. 20:28 I brought them to the land which I swore 466 to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings. 20:29 So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’” (So it is called “High Place” 467 to this day.)
20:30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers 468 and engage in prostitution with detestable idols? 20:31 When you present your sacrifices 469 – 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, 470 O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! 471
20:32 “‘What you plan 472 will never happen. You say, “We will be 473 like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” 474 20:33 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm, 475 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 476 the shepherd’s staff, 477 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 478 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, 479 if you will not listen to me. 480 But my holy name will not be profaned 481 again by your sacrifices 482 and your idols. 20:40 For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them 483 in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things. 20:41 When I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, I will accept you along with your soothing aroma. I will display my holiness among you in the sight of the nations. 20:42 Then you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you to the land of Israel, to the land I swore 484 to give to your fathers. 20:43 And there you will remember your conduct 485 and all your deeds by which you defiled yourselves. You will despise yourselves 486 because of all the evil deeds you have done. 20:44 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
20:45 (21:1) 487 The word of the Lord came to me: 20:46 “Son of man, turn toward 488 the south, 489 and speak out against the south. 490 Prophesy against the open scrub 491 land of the Negev, 20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 492 I am about to start a fire in you, 493 and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it. 20:48 And everyone 494 will see that I, the Lord, have burned it; it will not be extinguished.’”
20:49 Then I said, “O sovereign Lord! They are saying of me, ‘Does he not simply speak in eloquent figures of speech?’”
21:1 (21:6) 495 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:2 “Son of man, turn toward 496 Jerusalem 497 and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 21:3 and say to them, 498 ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, 499 I am against you. 500 I will draw my sword 501 from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 502 21:4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone 503 from the south 504 to the north. 21:5 Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath – it will not be sheathed again!’
21:6 “And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart 505 and bitterness; groan before their eyes. 21:7 When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone 506 will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ 507 Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord.”
21:8 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,
and also polished.
21:10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
it is polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree! 508
21:11 “‘He gave it to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand –
the sword is sharpened, it is polished –
giving it into the hand of the executioner.
21:12 Cry out and moan, son of man,
for it is wielded against my people;
against all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.
Therefore, strike your thigh. 509
21:13 “‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? 510 declares the sovereign Lord.’
21:14 “And you, son of man, prophesy,
and clap your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice, even three times!
It is a sword for slaughter,
a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
21:15 So hearts melt with fear and many stumble.
At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter.
Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!
21:16 Cut sharply on the right!
Swing to 511 the left,
wherever your edge 512 is appointed to strike.
21:17 I too will clap my hands together,
I will exhaust my rage;
I the Lord have spoken.”
21:18 The word of the Lord came to me: 21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city. 21:20 Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” 513 21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork 514 in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: 515 He shakes arrows, he consults idols, 516 he examines 517 animal livers. 518 21:22 Into his right hand 519 comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal 520 for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, 521 to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall. 21:23 But those in Jerusalem 522 will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, 523 but the king of Babylon 524 will accuse them of violations 525 in order to seize them. 526
21:24 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up 527 your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force. 528
21:25 “‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, 529
whose day has come, the time of final punishment,
21:26 this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Tear off the turban, 530
take off the crown!
Things must change! 531
Exalt the lowly,
bring down the proud! 532
21:27 A total ruin I will make it! 533
It will come to an end
when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’ 534
21:28 “As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; 535 say:
“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, 536 to flash like lightning –
21:29 while seeing false visions for you
and reading lying omens for you 537 –
to place that sword 538 on the necks of the profane wicked, 539
whose day has come,
the time of final punishment.
21:30 Return it to its sheath! 540
In the place where you were created, 541
in your native land, I will judge you.
21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
21:32 You will become fuel for the fire –
your blood will stain the middle of the land; 542
you will no longer be remembered,
for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
22:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, 543 are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? 544 Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), 545 and who makes herself idols (which results in impurity), 22:4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; 546 the end of your years has come. 547 Therefore I will make 548 you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 22:5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, 549 full of turmoil.
22:6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. 550 22:7 They have treated father and mother with contempt 551 within you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow 552 within you. 22:8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 22:9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. 553 Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; 554 they commit obscene acts among you. 555 22:10 They have sex with their father’s wife within you; 556 they violate women during their menstrual period within you. 557 22:11 One 558 commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates 559 his sister – his father’s daughter 560 – within you. 22:12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; 561 you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, 562 declares the sovereign Lord. 563
22:13 “‘See, I strike my hands together 564 at the dishonest profit you have made, and at the bloodshed 565 they have done among you. 22:14 Can your heart endure, 566 or can your hands be strong when I deal with you? 567 I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it! 22:15 I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you among various countries; I will remove your impurity from you. 568 22:16 You will be profaned within yourself 569 in the sight of the nations; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
22:17 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:18 “Son of man, the house of Israel has become slag to me. All of them are like bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the furnace; 570 they are the worthless slag of silver. 22:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you 571 have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. 572 22:20 As silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin are gathered in a furnace so that the fire can melt them, so I will gather you in my anger and in my rage. I will deposit you there 573 and melt you. 22:21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my fury, and you will be melted in it. 22:22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted in it, and you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger on you.’”
22:23 The word of the Lord came to me: 22:24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that receives no rain 574 or showers in the day of my anger.’ 575 22:25 Her princes 576 within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows 577 within it. 22:26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, 578 or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore 579 my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. 580 They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice. 581
22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 582 22:31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, 583 declares the sovereign Lord.”
23:1 The word of the Lord came to me: 23:2 “Son of man, there were two women who were daughters of the same mother. 23:3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers 584 fondled their virgin nipples there. 23:4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah 585 the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. 586 Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
23:5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. 587 She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians 588 – warriors 589 23:6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 23:7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired 590 – with all their idols. 23:8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men had sex with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 591 23:9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians 592 for whom she lusted. 23:10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious 593 among women, and they executed judgments against her.
23:11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, 594 but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 23:12 She lusted after the Assyrians – governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 23:13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 23:14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, 595 23:15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians 596 whose native land is Chaldea. 23:16 When she saw them, 597 she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 598 23:17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. 599 They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she 600 became disgusted with them. 23:18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, 601 I 602 was disgusted with her, just as I 603 had been disgusted with her sister. 23:19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 23:20 She lusted after their genitals – as large as those of donkeys, 604 and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions. 23:21 This is how you assessed 605 the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled 606 your nipples and squeezed 607 your young breasts.
23:22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 608 I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23:23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, 609 Shoa, 610 and Koa, 611 and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 23:24 They will attack 612 you with weapons, 613 chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; 614 they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; 615 they will punish you according to their laws. 23:25 I will direct 616 my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, 617 and your survivors will die 618 by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire. 23:26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry. 23:27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. 619 You will not seek their help 620 or remember Egypt anymore.
23:28 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, 621 I am about to deliver you over to 622 those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted. 23:29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, 623 and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. 624 23:30 I will do these things to you 625 because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols. 23:31 You have followed the ways of your sister, so I will place her cup of judgment 626 in your hand. 23:32 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: “You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; 627 you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal. 23:33 You will be overcome by 628 drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation. 23:34 You will drain it dry, 629 gnaw its pieces, 630 and tear out your breasts, 631 for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.
23:35 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, 632 you must bear now the punishment 633 for your obscene conduct and prostitution.”
23:36 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment 634 on Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds! 23:37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, 635 they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. 636 23:38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day 637 they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. 23:39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house.
23:40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. 638 For them you bathed, 639 painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry. 23:41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 23:42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, 640 including all kinds of men; 641 even Sabeans 642 were brought from the desert. The sisters 643 put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 23:43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’ 23:44 They had sex with her 644 as one does with a prostitute. In this way they had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women. 23:45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, 645 because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.
23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army 646 against them and subject them 647 to terror and plunder. 23:47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. 648 23:48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct. 23:49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. 649 Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.”
24:1 The word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month 650 : 24:2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege 651 to Jerusalem 652 this very day. 24:3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house 653 and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“‘Set on the pot, 654 set it on,
pour water in it too;
24:4 add the pieces of meat to it,
every good piece,
the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
24:5 Take the choice bone of the flock,
heap up bones under it;
boil rapidly,
and boil its bones in it.
24:6 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed,
the pot whose rot 655 is in it,
whose rot has not been removed 656 from it!
Empty it piece by piece.
No lot has fallen on it. 657
24:7 For her blood was in it;
she poured it on an exposed rock;
she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
24:8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,
I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.
24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I will also make the pile high.
24:10 Pile up the bones, kindle the fire;
cook the meat well, mix in the spices,
let the bones be charred.
24:11 Set the empty pot on the coals, 658
until it becomes hot and its copper glows,
until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot 659 is consumed.
24:12 It has tried my patience; 660
yet its thick rot is not removed 661 from it.
Subject its rot to the fire! 662
24:13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. 663
I tried to cleanse you, 664 but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness 665
until I have exhausted my anger on you.
24:14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment 666 is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! 667 I will judge you 668 according to your conduct 669 and your deeds, declares the sovereign Lord.’”
24:15 The word of Lord came to me: 24:16 “Son of man, realize that I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you with a jolt, 670 but you must not mourn or weep or shed tears. 24:17 Groan in silence for the dead, 671 but do not perform mourning rites. 672 Bind on your turban 673 and put your sandals on your feet. Do not cover your lip 674 and do not eat food brought by others.” 675
24:18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. In the morning 676 I acted just as I was commanded. 24:19 Then the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing mean for us?”
24:20 So I said to them: “The word of the Lord came to me: 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, 677 the object in which your eyes delight, 678 and your life’s passion. 679 Your very own sons and daughters whom you have left behind will die 680 by the sword. 24:22 Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others. 681 24:23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not mourn or weep, but you will rot 682 for your iniquities 683 and groan among yourselves. 24:24 Ezekiel will be an object lesson for you; you will do all that he has done. When it happens, then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’
24:25 “And you, son of man, this is what will happen on the day I take 684 from them their stronghold – their beautiful source of joy, the object in which their eyes delight, and the main concern of their lives, 685 as well as their sons and daughters: 686 24:26 On that day a fugitive will come to you to report the news. 687 24:27 On that day you will be able to speak again; 688 you will talk with the fugitive and be silent no longer. You will be an object lesson for them, and they will know that I am the Lord.”
[4:1] 1 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13 1/2 inches wide.
[4:2] 4 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
[4:3] 5 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
[4:3] 6 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
[4:4] 7 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
[4:5] 8 tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.
[4:5] 9 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:5] 10 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
[4:6] 11 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile using the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
[4:8] 12 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
[4:9] 13 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
[4:9] 15 tc The LXX reads “190 days.”
[4:10] 16 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
[4:10] 17 tn Heb “from time to time.”
[4:11] 18 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
[4:12] 19 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
[4:13] 20 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
[4:14] 21 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
[4:16] 22 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
[4:16] 23 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[4:17] 24 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18: 17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
[5:1] 25 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[5:1] 26 tn Heb, “pass (it) over your head and your beard.”
[5:3] 27 tn Heb “from there a few in number.” The word “strands” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
[5:3] 28 sn Objects could be carried in the end of a garment (Hag 2:12).
[5:4] 29 tn Heb “into the midst of” (so KJV, ASV). This phrase has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
[5:6] 30 sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.
[5:6] 31 tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”
[5:6] 32 sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.
[5:7] 33 tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.
[5:7] 34 sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.
[5:7] 35 tc Some Hebrew
[5:8] 36 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. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.
[5:8] 37 tn The Hebrew text uses wordplay here to bring out the appropriate nature of God’s judgment. “Execute” translates the same Hebrew verb translated “carried out” (literally meaning “do”) in v. 7, while “judgment” in v. 8 and “regulations” in v. 7 translate the same Hebrew noun (meaning “regulations” or in some cases “judgments” executed on those who break laws). The point seems to be this: God would “carry out judgments” against those who refused to “carry out” his “laws.”
[5:8] 38 tn Heb “in the sight of the nations.”
[5:9] 39 tn Or “abominable idols.”
[5:10] 40 tn In context “you” refers to the city of Jerusalem. To make this clear for the modern reader, “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation in apposition to “you.”
[5:10] 41 tn Heb “all of your survivors.”
[5:10] 42 tn Heb “to every wind.”
[5:11] 43 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[5:12] 44 sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.
[5:12] 45 sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.
[5:13] 46 tn Or “calm myself.”
[5:13] 47 tn The Hebrew noun translated “jealousy” is used in the human realm to describe suspicion of adultery (Num 5:14ff.; Prov 6:34). Since Israel’s relationship with God was often compared to a marriage this term is appropriate here. The term occurs elsewhere in Ezekiel in 8:3, 5; 16:38, 42; 23:25.
[5:15] 48 tc This reading is supported by the versions and by the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QEzek). Most Masoretic Hebrew
[5:15] 49 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. A related verb means “revile, taunt” (see Ps 44:16).
[5:15] 50 tn Heb “discipline and devastation.” These words are omitted in the Old Greek. The first term pictures Jerusalem as a recipient or example of divine discipline; the second depicts her as a desolate ruin (see Ezek 6:14).
[5:15] 51 tn Heb “in anger and in fury and in rebukes of fury.” The heaping up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of God’s anger.
[5:16] 52 tn The Hebrew word carries the basic idea of “bad, displeasing, injurious,” but when used of weapons has the nuance “deadly” (see Ps 144:10).
[5:16] 53 tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”
[5:16] 54 tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.
[5:16] 55 tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).
[5:16] 56 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support. See 4:16, as well as the covenant curse in Lev 26:26.
[5:17] 57 tn Heb “will bereave you.”
[5:17] 58 tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.
[6:2] 59 tn Heb “set your face against.” The expression occurs at the beginning of Ezekiel’s prophetic oracles in Ezek 13:17; 20:46; 21:2; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2.
[6:3] 60 tn The phrase “mountains of Israel” occurs only in the book of Ezekiel (6:2, 3; 19:9; 33:28; 34:13, 14; 35:12; 36:1, 4, 8; 37:22; 38:8; 39:2, 4, 17). The expression refers to the whole land of Israel.
[6:3] 61 tn The introductory formula “Hear the word of the sovereign
[6:3] 62 tn Heb “Look I, I am bringing.” The repetition of the pronoun draws attention to the speaker. The construction also indicates that the action is soon to come; the Lord is “about to bring a sword against” them.
[6:3] 63 tn The Hebrew term refers to elevated platforms where pagan sacrifices were performed.
[6:4] 64 tn Thirty-nine of the forty-eight biblical occurrences of this Hebrew word are found in the book of Ezekiel.
[6:5] 65 tc This first sentence, which explains the meaning of the last sentence of the previous verse, does not appear in the LXX and may be an instance of a marginal explanatory note making its way into the text.
[6:6] 66 tn The Hebrew verb translated “wiped out” is used to describe the judgment of the Flood (Gen 6:7; 7:4, 23).
[6:7] 67 sn The phrase you will know that I am the
[6:8] 68 tn Heb “when you have fugitives from the sword among the nations, when you are scattered among the lands.”
[6:9] 69 tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”
[6:9] 70 tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling, but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.
[6:9] 71 tn Heb adds “in their faces.”
[6:10] 72 tn Heb “not in vain did I speak to do to them this catastrophe.” The wording of the last half of v. 10 parallels God’s declaration after the sin of the golden calf (Exod 32:14).
[6:11] 73 sn By the sword and by famine and by pestilence. A similar trilogy of punishments is mentioned in Lev 26:25-26. See also Jer 14:12; 21:9; 27:8, 13; 29:18).
[6:12] 74 tn Heb “the one who is left, the one who is spared.”
[6:13] 75 sn By referring to every high hill…all the mountaintops…under every green tree and every leafy oak Ezekiel may be expanding on the phraseology of Deut 12:2 (see 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 16:4; 17:10; Jer 2:20; 3:6, 13; 2 Chr 28:4).
[6:14] 76 sn I will stretch out my hand against them is a common expression in the book of Ezekiel (14:9, 13; 16:27; 25:7; 35:3).
[6:14] 77 tc The Vulgate reads the name as “Riblah,” a city north of Damascus. The MT reads Diblah, a city otherwise unknown. The letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) may have been confused in the Hebrew text. The town of Riblah was in the land of Hamath (2 Kgs 23:33) which represented the northern border of Israel (Ezek 47:14).
[7:2] 78 tn Or “earth.” Elsewhere the expression “four corners of the earth” figuratively refers to the whole earth (Isa 11:12).
[7:3] 79 tn Or “punish” (cf. BDB 1047 s.v. שָׁפַט 3.c).
[7:3] 81 tn Heb “I will place on you.”
[7:4] 82 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[7:4] 83 tn The pronoun “you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
[7:4] 84 tn “I will set your behavior on your head.”
[7:4] 85 tn Heb “and your abominable practices will be among you.”
[7:5] 86 tn The Hebrew term often refers to moral evil (see Ezek 6:10; 14:22), but in many contexts it refers to calamity or disaster, sometimes as punishment for evil behavior.
[7:5] 87 tc So most Hebrew
[7:6] 90 tc With different vowels the verb rendered “it has awakened” would be the noun “the end,” as in “the end is upon you.” The verb would represent a phonetic wordplay. The noun by virtue of repetition would continue to reinforce the idea of the end. Whether verb or noun, this is the only instance to occur with this preposition.
[7:6] 91 tc For this entire verse, the LXX has only “the end is come.”
[7:7] 92 sn The day refers to the day of the Lord, a concept which, beginning in Amos 5:18-20, became a common theme in the OT prophetic books. It refers to a time when the Lord intervenes in human affairs as warrior and judge.
[7:7] 93 tc The LXX reads “neither tumult nor birth pains.” The LXX varies at many points from the MT in this chapter. The context suggests that one or both of these would be present on a day of judgment, thus favoring the MT. Perhaps more significant is the absence of “the mountains” in the LXX. If the ר (resh) in הָרִים (harim, “the mountains” not “on the mountains”) were a ד (dalet), which is a common letter confusion, then it could be from the same root as the previous word, הֵד (hed), meaning “the day is near – with destruction, not joyful shouting.”
[7:8] 94 tn The expression “to pour out rage” also occurs in Ezek 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:31; 30:15; 36:18.
[7:9] 95 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[7:9] 96 tn Heb “According to your behavior I will place on you.”
[7:9] 97 tn The MT lacks “you.” It has been added for clarification.
[7:11] 98 tn Heb “the violence.”
[7:11] 99 tc The LXX reads “he will crush the wicked rod without confusion or haste.”
[7:11] 100 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[7:12] 101 tn Heb “wrath.” Context clarifies that God’s wrath is in view.
[7:13] 102 tc The translation follows the LXX for the first line of the verse, although the LXX has lost the second line due to homoioteleuton (similar endings of the clauses). The MT reads “The seller will not return to the sale.” This Hebrew reading has been construed as a reference to land redemption, the temporary sale of the use of property, with property rights returned to the seller in the year of Jubilee. But the context has no other indicator that land redemption is in view. If correct, the LXX evidence suggests that one of the cases of “the customer” has been replaced by “the seller” in the MT, perhaps due to hoimoioarcton (similar beginnings of the words).
[7:13] 103 tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.
[7:13] 104 tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in v. 16; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
[7:14] 105 tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.
[7:17] 106 tn Heb “their knees will run with water.” The expression probably refers to urination caused by fright, which is how the LXX renders the phrase. More colloquial English would simply be “they will wet their pants,” but as D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:261, n. 98) notes, the men likely wore skirts which were short enough to expose urine on the knees.
[7:18] 107 tn Heb “baldness will be on their heads.”
[7:19] 108 tn The Hebrew term can refer to menstrual impurity. The term also occurs at the end of v. 20.
[7:19] 109 sn Compare Zeph 1:18.
[7:19] 110 tn Heb “it.” Apparently the subject is the silver and gold mentioned earlier (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:102).
[7:19] 111 tn The “stumbling block of their iniquity” is a unique phrase of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 14:3, 4, 7; 18:30; 44:12).
[7:20] 112 tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (’edyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (’edyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then were used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17 which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.
[7:22] 113 sn My treasured place probably refers to the temple (however, cf. NLT “my treasured land”).
[7:22] 114 sn Since the pronouns “it” are both feminine, they do not refer to the masculine “my treasured place”; instead they probably refer to Jerusalem or the land, both of which are feminine in Hebrew.
[7:23] 115 tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of ַהבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately and we can do little better.”
[7:23] 116 tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.
[7:24] 117 sn Or “their holy places” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
[7:25] 118 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. It is interpreted based on a Syriac cognate meaning “to bristle or stiffen (in terror).”
[7:27] 119 tn Heb “and by their judgments.”
[8:1] 120 tc The LXX reads “In the sixth year, in the fifth month, on the fifth of the month.”
[8:1] 122 tn Heb “fell upon me there,” that is, God’s influence came over him.
[8:2] 123 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb (so also throughout the chapter).
[8:2] 124 tc The MT reads “fire” rather than “man,” the reading of the LXX. The nouns are very similar in Hebrew.
[8:2] 125 tc The MT reads “what appeared to be his waist and downwards was fire.” The LXX omits “what appeared to be,” reading “from his waist to below was fire.” Suggesting that “like what appeared to be” belongs before “fire,” D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:277) points out the resulting poetic symmetry of form with the next line as followed in the translation here.
[8:2] 126 tc The LXX omits “like a brightness.”
[8:3] 128 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
[8:3] 129 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[8:3] 130 map For the location of Jerusalem see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[8:5] 132 tn Heb “lift your eyes (to) the way of.”
[8:10] 135 tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.
[8:10] 136 sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).
[8:11] 137 sn Note the contrast between these seventy men who represented Israel and the seventy elders who ate the covenant meal before God, inaugurating the covenant relationship (Exod 24:1, 9).
[8:11] 138 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[8:12] 139 tn Heb “the room of his images.” The adjective “idolatrous” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[8:14] 140 tn Given the context this could be understood as a shock, e.g., idiomatically “Good grief! I saw….”
[8:14] 141 sn The worship of Tammuz included the observation of the annual death and descent into the netherworld of the god Dumuzi. The practice was observed by women in the ancient Near East over a period of centuries.
[8:16] 142 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something.
[8:16] 143 sn The priests prayed to God between the porch and the altar on fast days (Joel 2:17). This is the location where Zechariah was murdered (Matt 23:35).
[8:16] 144 tc The LXX reads “twenty” instead of twenty-five, perhaps because of the association of the number twenty with the Mesopotamian sun god Shamash.
[8:16] 145 sn The temple faced east.
[8:16] 146 tn Or “the sun god.”
[8:17] 147 tn It is not clear what the practice of “holding a branch to the nose” indicates. A possible parallel is the Syrian relief of a king holding a flower to his nose as he worships the stars (ANEP 281). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:145-46. The LXX glosses the expression as “Behold, they are like mockers.”
[8:18] 148 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[9:1] 149 tc Heb “they approached.” Reading the imperative assumes the same consonantal text but different vowels.
[9:2] 150 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[9:2] 151 sn The six men plus the scribe would equal seven, which was believed by the Babylonians to be the number of planetary deities.
[9:2] 152 sn The upper gate was built by Jotham (2 Kgs 15:35).
[9:2] 153 tn Or “a scribe’s inkhorn.” The Hebrew term occurs in the OT only in Ezek 9 and is believed to be an Egyptian loanword.
[9:4] 155 tn Heb “through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.”
[9:4] 156 tn The word translated “mark” is in Hebrew the letter ת (tav). Outside this context the only other occurrence of the word is in Job 31:35. In ancient Hebrew script this letter was written like the letter X.
[9:5] 157 tn Heb “to these he said in my ears.”
[9:5] 158 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[9:9] 159 tn Or “lawlessness” (NAB); “perversity” (NRSV). The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT, and its meaning is uncertain. The similar phrase in 7:23 has a common word for “violence.”
[9:9] 160 sn The saying is virtually identical to that of the elders in Ezek 8:12.
[9:10] 161 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
[9:10] 162 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.” The same expression occurs in 1 Kgs 8:32; Ezek 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.
[10:1] 163 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:1] 164 tn Or “like a dome.” See 1:22-26.
[10:2] 165 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[10:2] 166 tn The Hebrew term often refers to chariot wheels (Isa 28:28; Ezek 23:24; 26:10).
[10:2] 167 tc The LXX, Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum
[10:3] 168 tn Heb “right side.”
[10:5] 169 tn The name (“El Shaddai”) has often been translated “God Almighty,” primarily because Jerome translated it omnipotens (“all powerful”) in the Latin Vulgate. There has been much debate over the meaning of the name. For discussion see W. F. Albright, “The Names Shaddai and Abram,” JBL 54 (1935): 173-210; R. Gordis, “The Biblical Root sdy-sd,” JTS 41 (1940): 34-43; and especially T. N. D. Mettinger, In Search of God, 69-72.
[10:6] 170 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[10:6] 171 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man dressed in linen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:6] 172 tn Heb “the wheel.”
[10:7] 173 tn Heb “the cherub.”
[10:7] 174 tn The Hebrew text adds, “from among the cherubim.”
[10:8] 175 tn The Hebrew term is normally used as an architectural term in describing the plan or pattern of the tabernacle or temple or a representation of it (see Exod 25:8; 1 Chr 28:11).
[10:9] 176 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[10:9] 177 tn The MT repeats this phrase, a clear case of dittography.
[10:9] 178 tn Heb “Tarshish stone.” The meaning is uncertain. The term has also been translated “topaz” (NEB), “beryl” (KJV, NASB, NRSV), and “chrysolite” (RSV, NIV).
[10:10] 179 tn Or “like a wheel at right angles to another wheel.” Some envision concentric wheels here, while others propose “a globe-like structure in which two wheels stand at right angles” (L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:33-34). See also 1:16.
[10:11] 180 sn That is, the cherubim.
[10:11] 181 tn Many interpreters assume that the human face of each cherub was the one that looked forward.
[10:12] 182 tc The phrase “along with their entire bodies” is absent from the LXX and may be a gloss explaining the following words.
[10:13] 183 tn Or “the whirling wheels.”
[10:14] 184 tn Heb “each one”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:14] 185 sn The living creature described here is thus slightly different from the one described in Ezek 1:10, where a bull’s face appeared instead of a cherub’s. Note that some English versions harmonize the two descriptions and read the same here as in 1:10 (cf. NAB, NLT “an ox”; TEV, CEV “a bull”). This may be justified based on v. 22, which states the creatures’ appearance was the same.
[10:15] 186 tn Heb “it was the living creature.”
[10:17] 188 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the cherubim) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 189 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 190 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:17] 192 tn Heb “living creature.”
[10:17] 193 tn Heb “them”; the referent (the wheels) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[10:19] 195 tn Or “the ground” (NIV, NCV).
[10:20] 196 tn Heb “That was the living creature.”
[11:1] 197 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[11:1] 198 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
[11:2] 199 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
[11:3] 200 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
[11:3] 201 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
[11:3] 202 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
[11:3] 203 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
[11:5] 205 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
[11:5] 206 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
[11:7] 208 tn Heb “in its midst.”
[11:7] 209 tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.
[11:7] 210 tc Many of the versions read “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).
[11:9] 211 tn Heb “its midst.”
[11:11] 212 tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.
[11:13] 213 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
[11:15] 214 tc The MT reads “your brothers, your brothers” either for empahsis (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:341, n. 1; 346) or as a result of dittography.
[11:15] 215 tc The MT reads גְאֻלָּתֶךָ (gÿ’ullatekha, “your redemption-men”), referring to the relatives responsible for deliverance in times of hardship (see Lev 25:25-55). The LXX and Syriac read “your fellow exiles,” assuming an underlying Hebrew text of גָלוּתֶךָ (galutekha) or having read the א (aleph) as an internal mater lectionis for holem.
[11:15] 216 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[11:15] 217 tc The MT has an imperative form (“go far!”), but it may be read with different vowels as a perfect verb (“they have gone far”).
[11:16] 218 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
[11:19] 219 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew
[11:19] 220 tn Heb “their flesh.”
[11:19] 221 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
[11:20] 222 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
[11:21] 223 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
[11:24] 226 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
[11:24] 227 tn Heb “to Chaldea.”
[11:25] 228 tn Heb “all the words of.”
[12:2] 229 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
[12:2] 230 sn This verse is very similar to Isa 6:9-10.
[12:3] 231 tn Heb “see.” This plays on the uses of “see” in v. 2. They will see his actions with their eyes and perhaps they will “see” with their mind, that is, understand or grasp the point.
[12:6] 232 tn Apart from this context the Hebrew term occurs only in Gen 15:17 in reference to the darkness after sunset. It may mean twilight.
[12:6] 233 tn Or “land” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[12:6] 234 sn See also Ezek 12:11, 24:24, 27.
[12:7] 235 tn The words “my baggage” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied from the context.
[12:10] 236 tc The nearly incoherent Hebrew reads “The prince is this burden (prophetic oracle?) in Jerusalem.” The Targum, which may only be trying to make sense of a very difficult text, says “Concerning the prince is this oracle,” assuming the addition of a preposition. This would be the only case where Ezekiel uses this term for a prophetic oracle. The LXX reads the word for “burden” as a synonym for leader, as both words are built on the same root (נָשִׂיא, nasi’), but the verse is still incoherent because it is only a phrase with no verb. The current translation assumes that the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) from the root נָשִׂיא has dropped out due to homoioteleuton. If indeed the verb has dropped out (the syntax of the verbless clause being the problem), then context clearly suggests that it be a form of נָשִׂיא (see vv. 7 and 12). Placing the verb between the subject and object would result in three consecutive words based on the root נָשִׂיא and an environment conducive to an omission in copying: הַנָּשִׂיא יִשָּׁא הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה (hannasi’ yisha’ hammasa’ hazzeh, “the Prince will raise this burden”).
[12:10] 237 tc The MT reads “within them.” Possibly a scribe copied this form from the following verse “among them,” but only “within it” makes sense in this context.
[12:12] 238 sn The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.
[12:12] 239 tn The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
[12:12] 240 tc The MT reads “they”; the LXX and Syriac read “he.”
[12:13] 241 tn Or “Babylonians” (NCV, NLT).
[12:13] 242 sn He will not see it. This prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kgs 25:7 and Jer 52:11, which recount how Zedekiah was blinded before being deported to Babylon.
[12:13] 243 sn There he will die. This was fulfilled when King Zedekiah died in exile (Jer 52:11).
[12:18] 244 tn The Hebrew term normally refers to an earthquake (see 1 Kgs 19:11; Amos 1:1).
[12:23] 245 tn Heb “the days draw near and the word of every vision (draws near).”
[13:2] 246 tn Heb “from their mind.”
[13:6] 247 sn The same description of a false prophet is found in Micah 2:11.
[13:6] 248 sn The
[13:6] 249 tn Or “confirmed”; NIV “to be fulfilled”; TEV “to come true.”
[13:8] 250 tn The word h!nn@h indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[13:8] 251 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.
[13:9] 252 tn The Hebrew term may refer to the secret council of the
[13:9] 253 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).
[13:10] 255 tn The Hebrew word only occurs here in the Bible. According to L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:202-3) it is also used in the Mishnah of a wall of rough stones without mortar. This fits the context here comparing the false prophetic messages to a nice coat of whitewash on a structurally unstable wall.
[13:11] 256 tn Heb “and you, O hailstones.”
[13:11] 257 sn A violent wind will break out. God’s judgments are frequently described in storm imagery (Pss 18:7-15; 77:17-18; 83:15; Isa 28:17; 30:30; Jer 23:19; 30:23).
[13:14] 258 tn Or “within it,” referring to the city of Jerusalem.
[13:16] 259 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[13:17] 260 tn Heb “set your face against.”
[13:17] 261 tn Heb “from their heart.”
[13:18] 262 sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.
[13:18] 263 tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.
[13:18] 264 tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.
[13:18] 265 tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).
[13:19] 266 tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”
[13:20] 267 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[13:20] 268 tn Heb “human lives” or “souls.”
[13:21] 269 tn Heb “from your hand(s).” This refers to their power over the people.
[13:23] 270 tn The Hebrew verb is feminine plural, indicating that it is the false prophetesses who are addressed here.
[14:3] 271 tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
[14:3] 272 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).
[14:4] 273 tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”
[14:9] 275 tn The translation is uncertain due to difficulty both in determining the meaning of the verb’s stem and its conjugation in this context. In the Qal stem the basic meaning of the verbal root פָּתַה (patah) is “to be gullible, foolish.” The doubling stems (the Pual and Piel used in this verse) typically give such stative verbs a factitive sense, hence either “make gullible” (i.e., “entice”) or “make into a fool” (i.e., “to show to be a fool”). The latter represents the probable meaning of the term in Jer 20:7, 10 and is followed here (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:193; R. Mosis “Ez 14, 1-11 - ein Ruf zur Umkehr,” BZ 19 [1975]: 166-69 and ThWAT 4:829-31). In this view, if a prophet speaks when not prompted by God, he will be shown to be a fool, but this does not reflect negatively on the Lord because it is God who shows him to be a fool. Secondly, the verb is in the perfect conjugation and may be translated “I have made a fool of him” or “I have enticed him,” or to show determination (see IBHS 439-41 §27.2f and g), or in certain syntactical constructions as future. Any of these may be plausible if the doubling stems used are understood in the sense of “making a fool of.” But if understood as “to make gullible,” more factors come into play. As the Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, it is often translated as present perfect: “I have enticed.” In this case the Lord states that he himself enticed the prophet to cooperate with the idolaters. Such enticement to sin would seem to be a violation of God’s moral character, but sometimes he does use such deception and enticement to sin as a form of punishment against those who have blatantly violated his moral will (see, e.g., 2 Sam 24). If one follows this line of interpretation in Ezek 14:9, one would have to assume that the prophet had already turned from God in his heart. However, the context gives no indication of this. Therefore, it is better to take the perfect as indicating certitude and to translate it with the future tense: “I will entice.” In this case the Lord announces that he will judge the prophet appropriately. If a prophet allows himself to be influenced by idolaters, then the Lord will use deception as a form of punishment against that deceived prophet. A comparison with the preceding oracles also favors this view. In 14:4 the perfect of certitude is used for emphasis (see “I will answer”), though in v. 7 a participle is employed. For a fuller discussion of this text, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 23-25.
[14:10] 276 tn Or “They will bear responsibility for their iniquity.” The Hebrew term “iniquity” (three times in this verse) often refers by metonymy to the consequence of sin (see Gen 4:13).
[14:10] 277 tn Or “As is the guilt of the inquirer so is the guilt of the prophet.”
[14:11] 278 sn I will be their God. See Exod 6:7; Lev 26:12; Jer 7:23; 11:4.
[14:13] 279 tn Heb “break its staff of bread.”
[14:14] 280 sn Traditionally this has been understood as a reference to the biblical Daniel, though he was still quite young when Ezekiel prophesied. One wonders if he had developed a reputation as an intercessor by this point. For this reason some prefer to see a reference to a ruler named Danel, known in Canaanite legend for his justice and wisdom. In this case all three of the individuals named would be non-Israelites, however the Ugaritic Danel is not known to have qualities of faith in the Lord that would place him in the company of the other men. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:447-50.
[14:21] 281 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:2] 282 tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.
[15:4] 283 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).
[15:6] 284 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[15:6] 285 tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
[15:7] 286 tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.
[15:7] 287 sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597
[15:8] 288 tn The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.
[16:2] 289 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[16:4] 290 tn Heb “in water you were not washed for cleansing” or “with water you were not washed smooth” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:473, n. 57, for a discussion of possible meanings of this hapax legomenon).
[16:4] 291 sn Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.
[16:5] 292 sn These verbs, “pity” and “spare,” echo the judgment oracles in 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10.
[16:5] 293 sn A similar concept is found in Deut 32:10.
[16:6] 294 tc The translation reflects the Hebrew text, which repeats the statement, perhaps for emphasis. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Old Greek, and the Syriac do not include the repetition. The statement could have been accidentally repeated or the second occurrence could have been accidentally omitted. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to know which is more likely.
[16:8] 295 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a participle.
[16:8] 296 tn See similar use of this term in Ezek 23:17; Prov 7:16; Song of Songs 4:10; 7:13.
[16:8] 297 tn Heb “wing” or “skirt.” The gesture symbolized acquiring a woman in early Arabia (similarly, see Deut 22:30; Ruth 3:9).
[16:14] 299 sn The description of the nation Israel in vv. 10-14 recalls the splendor of the nation’s golden age under King Solomon.
[16:15] 300 tn Heb “it” (so KJV, ASV); the referent (the beauty in which the prostitute trusted, see the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[16:16] 301 tc The text as written in the MT is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:228, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:486, n. 137.
[16:17] 302 tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).
[16:20] 303 sn The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.
[16:21] 304 tn Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.
[16:24] 305 tn The Hebrew גֶּב (gev) may represent more than one word, each rare in the Old Testament. It may refer to a “mound” or to “rafters.” The LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate interpret this as a brothel.
[16:24] 306 tn Or “lofty place” (NRSV). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:229, and B. Lang, Frau Weisheit, 137.
[16:25] 307 tn Heb “treated as if abominable,” i.e., repudiated.
[16:25] 308 tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew root is found in Prov 13:3 in reference to the talkative person who habitually “opens wide” his lips.
[16:26] 309 tn Heb “your neighbors, large of flesh.” The word “flesh” is used here of the genitals. It may simply refer to the size of their genitals in general, or, as the translation suggests, depicts them as sexually aroused.
[16:29] 310 tn Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.
[16:31] 311 tn The Hebrew term, which also occurs in vv. 34 and 41 of this chapter, always refers to the payment of a prostitute (Deut 23:19; Isa 23:17; Hos 9:1; Mic 1:7).
[16:33] 312 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[16:34] 313 tn Heb “With you it was opposite of women in your prostitution.”
[16:36] 314 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
[16:37] 315 sn Harlots suffered degradation when their nakedness was exposed (Jer 13:22, 26; Hos 2:12; Nah 3:5).
[16:38] 316 tn Heb “and I will judge you (with) the judgments of adulteresses and of those who shed blood.”
[16:38] 317 tn Heb “and I will give you the blood of rage and zeal.”
[16:41] 318 tn The words “to your clients” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
[16:43] 319 tn Heb “your way on (your) head I have placed.”
[16:46] 322 sn Sodom was the epitome of evil (Deut 29:23; 32:32; Isa 1:9-10; 3:9; Jer 23:14; Lam 4:6; Matt 10:15; 11:23-24; Jude 7).
[16:47] 323 tn Heb “walked in their ways.”
[16:47] 324 tn The Hebrew expression has a temporal meaning as illustrated by the use of the phrase in 2 Chr 12:7.
[16:49] 326 tn Heb “strengthen the hand of.”
[16:51] 327 tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”
[16:52] 328 tn Heb “because you have interceded for your sisters with your sins.”
[16:57] 330 tc So MT, LXX, and Vulgate; many Hebrew
[16:63] 332 tn Heb “and your mouth will not be open any longer.”
[16:63] 333 tn Heb “when I make atonement for you for all which you have done.”
[17:2] 334 sn The verb occurs elsewhere in the OT only in Judg 14:12-19, where Samson supplies a riddle.
[17:3] 335 tn The parable assumes the defection of Zedekiah to Egypt and his rejection of Babylonian lordship.
[17:3] 336 sn The great eagle symbolizes Nebuchadnezzar (17:12).
[17:3] 337 tn Hebrew has two words for wings; it is unknown whether they are fully synonymous or whether one term distinguishes a particular part of the wing such as the wing coverts (nearest the shoulder), secondaries (mid-feathers of the wing) or primaries (last and longest section of the wing).
[17:3] 338 tn This term was used in 16:10, 13, and 18 of embroidered cloth.
[17:3] 339 sn In the parable Lebanon apparently refers to Jerusalem (17:12).
[17:5] 340 tn Heb “took of the seed of the land.” For the vine imagery, “seedling” is a better translation, though in its subsequent interpretation the “seed” refers to Zedekiah through its common application to offspring.
[17:5] 341 tn Heb “a field for seed.”
[17:6] 342 tn Heb “short of stature.”
[17:6] 343 tn That is, the eagle.
[17:6] 344 tn Or “him,” i.e., the eagle.
[17:7] 345 sn The phrase another great eagle refers to Pharaoh Hophra.
[17:9] 346 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] 347 tn Heb “all the טַרְפֵּי (tarpey) of branches.” The word טַרְפֵּי occurs only here in the Bible; its precise meaning is uncertain.
[17:9] 348 tn Or “there will be no strong arm or large army when it is pulled up by the roots.”
[17:12] 349 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] 350 sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.
[17:12] 351 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[17:13] 352 tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).
[17:13] 353 tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”
[17:15] 354 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[17:15] 355 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[17:17] 357 tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”
[17:18] 358 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.
[17:18] 359 sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).
[17:19] 360 tn Heb “place it on his head.”
[17:21] 361 tc Some manuscripts and versions read “choice men,” while most manuscripts read “fugitives”; the difference arises from the reversal, or metathesis, of two letters, מִבְרָחָיו (mivrakhyv) for מִבְחָריו (mivkharyv).
[17:22] 363 sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.
[17:22] 364 tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”
[18:2] 365 tn This word only occurs here and in the parallel passage in Jer 31:29-30 in the Qal stem and in Eccl 10:10 in the Piel stem. In the latter passage it refers to the bluntness of an ax that has not been sharpened. Here the idea is of the “bluntness” of the teeth, not from having ground them down due to the bitter taste of sour grapes but to the fact that they have lost their “edge,” “bite,” or “sharpness” because they are numb from the sour taste. For this meaning for the word, see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:197.
[18:3] 366 tn This expression occurs often in Ezekiel (5:11; 14:16, 18, 20; 16:48; 17:16, 19; 20:3, 31, 33; 33:11, 27; 34:8; 35:6, 11).
[18:6] 368 tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).
[18:6] 369 tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.
[18:6] 370 tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).
[18:7] 371 tn Heb “restores to the debtor his pledge.” The root occurs in Exod 22:25 in reference to restoring a man’s garment as a pledge before nightfall.
[18:7] 372 tn The Hebrew term refers to seizure of property, usually by the rich (Isa 3:14; 10:2; Mic 2:2 [see Lev 5:21, 22]).
[18:8] 373 sn This law was given in Lev 25:36.
[18:8] 374 tn Heb, “turns back his hand.”
[18:8] 375 tn Heb “justice of truth.”
[18:9] 376 tc The MT reads לַעֲשׂוֹת אֱמֶת (la’asot ’emet, “to do with integrity”), while the LXX reads “to do them,” presupposing לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָם (la’asot ’otam). The ם (mem) and ת (tav) have been reversed in the MT. The LXX refelcts the original, supported by similar phrasing in Ezekiel 11:20; 20:19.
[18:9] 378 tn Heb “living, he will live.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[18:10] 380 tn Heb “and he does, a brother, from one of these.” If “brother” is retained, it may be an adverbial accusative, “against a brother” (i.e., fellow Israelite). But the form is likely dittographic (note the אח [aleph-heth] combination in the following form).
[18:11] 381 tn Heb “and he all of these did not do.” The parenthetical note refers back to the father described in the preceding verses.
[18:11] 382 sn See note on “mountains” in v. 6.
[18:12] 383 sn The poor and needy are often mentioned together in the OT (Deut 24:14; Jer 22:16; Ezek 14:69; Ps 12:6; 35:10; 37:14).
[18:12] 384 tn Heb “lifts up his eyes.”
[18:13] 385 tn Heb “be put to death.” The translation follows an alternative reading that appears in several ancient textual witnesses.
[18:13] 386 tn Heb “his blood will be upon him.”
[18:14] 387 tn Heb “and he sees and does not do likewise.”
[18:17] 388 tc This translation follows the LXX. The MT reads “restrains his hand from the poor,” which makes no sense here.
[18:17] 389 tn Or “in his father’s punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity/punishment” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in vv. 18, 19, 20; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
[18:19] 390 tn Heb “lift up, bear.”
[18:20] 391 tn Heb “lift up, bear.”
[18:20] 392 tn Heb “lift up, bear.”
[18:20] 393 tn Heb “the righteousness of the righteous one will be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked one will be upon him.”
[18:22] 394 tn Heb “remembered.”
[18:24] 395 tn Heb “because of them he will die.”
[18:26] 397 tn Heb “for them” or “because of them.”
[18:30] 400 tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.
[18:30] 401 tn Or “leading to punishment.”
[18:31] 402 sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.
[18:32] 403 tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”
[19:2] 405 sn Lions probably refer to Judahite royalty and/or nobility. The lioness appears to symbolize the Davidic dynasty, though some see the referent as Hamutal, the wife of Josiah and mother of Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Gen 49:9 seems to be the background for Judah being compared to lions.
[19:4] 407 sn The description applies to king Jehoahaz (2 Kgs 23:31-34; Jer 22:10-12).
[19:5] 408 sn The identity of this second lion is unclear; the referent is probably Jehoiakim or Zedekiah. If the lioness is Hamutal, then Zedekiah is the lion described here.
[19:7] 409 tc The Hebrew text reads “knew,” but is apparently the result of a ר-ד (dalet-resh) confusion. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. However, Allen retains the reading “widows” as the object of the verb, which he understands in the sense of “do harm to,” and translates the line: “He did harm to women by making them widows” (p. 282). The line also appears to be lacking a beat for the meter of the poem.
[19:7] 410 tc The Hebrew text reads “widows” instead of “strongholds,” apparently due to a confusion of ר (resh) and ל (lamed). L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284) favors the traditional text, understanding “widows” in the sense of “women made widows.” D. I. Block, (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:602) also defends the Hebrew text, arguing that the image is that of a dominant male lion who takes over the pride and by copulating with the females lays claim to his predecessor’s “widows.”
[19:9] 411 tn Or “They put him in a neck stock with hooks.” The noun סּוּגַר (sugar), translated “collar,” occurs only here in the Bible. L. C. Allen and D. I. Block point out a Babylonian cognate that refers to a device for transporting prisoners of war that held them by their necks (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:597, n. 35; L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:284). Based on the Hebrew root, the traditional rendering had been “cage” (cf. ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[19:9] 412 tc The term in the MT occurs only here and in Eccl 9:12 where it refers to a net for catching fish. The LXX translates this as “prison,” which assumes a confusion of dalet and resh took place in the MT.
[19:10] 413 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב-כ (beth-kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
[19:11] 414 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
[19:11] 415 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
[19:12] 416 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
[19:13] 417 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
[19:14] 418 tn The verse describes the similar situation recorded in Judg 9:20.
[20:1] 419 sn The date would be August 14th, 591
[20:1] 420 tn Heb “men from the elders.”
[20:1] 421 tn See the note at 14:3.
[20:3] 422 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”
[20:4] 423 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment.
[20:5] 424 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
[20:5] 426 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
[20:6] 427 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand to them.”
[20:6] 428 tn Or “searched out.” The Hebrew word is used to describe the activity of the spies in “spying out” the land of Canaan (Num 13-14); cf. KJV “I had espied for them.”
[20:6] 429 sn The phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey,” a figure of speech describing the land’s abundant fertility, occurs in v. 15 as well as Exod 3:8, 17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; Deut 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Josh 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:23 (see also Deut 1:25; 8:7-9).
[20:7] 430 tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of his eyes, throw away.” The Pentateuch does not refer to the Israelites worshiping idols in Egypt, but Josh 24:14 appears to suggest that they did so.
[20:8] 431 tn Heb “each one, the detestable things of their eyes did not throw away.”
[20:8] 432 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
[20:9] 433 tn Heb “for the sake of my name.”
[20:9] 434 tn Heb “before the eyes of the nations in whose midst they were.”
[20:9] 435 tn Heb “to whom I made myself known before their eyes to bring them out from the land of Egypt.” The translation understands the infinitive construct (“to bring them out”) as indicating manner. God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt was an act of self-revelation in that it displayed his power and his commitment to his promises.
[20:11] 436 sn The laws were given at Mount Sinai.
[20:11] 439 tn The wording and the concept is contained in Lev 18:5 and Deut 30:15-19.
[20:12] 440 sn Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, also stressed the importance of obedience to the Sabbath law (Jer 17).
[20:12] 441 tn Heb “to become a sign between me and them.”
[20:12] 442 tn Or “set them apart.” The last phrase of verse 12 appears to be a citation of Exod 31:13.
[20:13] 443 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
[20:13] 444 tn Heb “to bring them to an end.”
[20:15] 445 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
[20:16] 446 tn The words “I did this” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons. Verses 15-16 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text. The translation divides this sentence into two for stylistic reasons.
[20:16] 447 tn Heb “for after their idols their heart was going.” The use of the active participle (“was going”) in the Hebrew text draws attention to the ongoing nature of their idolatrous behavior.
[20:17] 448 tn Heb “my eye pitied.”
[20:18] 449 tn Heb “sons,” reflecting the patriarchal idiom of the culture.
[20:18] 450 tn Or “standard of justice.” See Ezek 7:27.
[20:20] 451 tn Or “set apart my Sabbaths.”
[20:20] 452 tn Heb “and they will become a sign between me and you.”
[20:21] 454 tn Or “carries them out.”
[20:21] 455 tn Heb “and I said/thought to pour out.”
[20:22] 456 tn Heb “drew my hand back.” This idiom also occurs in Lam 2:8 and Ps 74:11.
[20:23] 457 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
[20:23] 458 sn Though the Pentateuch does not seem to know of this episode, Ps 106:26-27 may speak of God’s oath to exile the people before they had entered Canaan.
[20:24] 459 tn The words “I did this” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons. Verses 23-24 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text. The translation divides this sentence into two for stylistic reasons.
[20:24] 460 tn Or “they worshiped” (NCV, TEV, CEV); Heb “their eyes were on” or “were after” (cf. v. 16).
[20:25] 461 tn Or “permitted.”
[20:25] 462 tn The Hebrew term חֻקּוֹת (khuqot; translated “statutes” elsewhere in this chapter) is normally feminine. Here Ezekiel changes the form to masculine: חֻקִּים (khuqim). Further, they are not called “my decrees” as vv. 11 and 13 refer to “my statutes.” The change is a signal that Ezekiel is not talking about the same statutes in vv. 11 and 13, which lead to life.
[20:26] 464 sn This act is prohibited in Deut 12:29-31 and Jer 7:31; 19:5; 32:35. See also 2 Kgs 21:6; 23:10. This custom indicates that the laws the Israelites were following were the disastrous laws of pagan nations (see Ezek 16:20-21).
[20:26] 465 sn God sometimes punishes sin by inciting the sinner to sin even more, as the biblical examples of divine hardening and deceit make clear. See Robert B. Chisholm, Jr., “Divine Hardening in the Old Testament,” BSac 153 (1996): 410-34; idem, “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 11-28. For other instances where the Lord causes individuals to act unwisely or even sinfully as punishment for sin, see 1 Sam 2:25; 2 Sam 17:14; 1 Kgs 12:15; 2 Chr 25:20.
[20:28] 466 tn Heb “which I lifted up my hand.”
[20:29] 467 tn The Hebrew word (“Bamah”) means “high place.”
[20:30] 468 tn Heb “in the way of your fathers.”
[20:31] 470 tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”
[20:31] 471 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”
[20:32] 472 tn Heb “what comes upon your mind.”
[20:32] 473 tn The Hebrew could also read: “Let us be.”
[20:32] 474 tn Heb “serving wood and stone.”
[20:33] 475 sn This phrase occurs frequently in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8).
[20:37] 476 tn This is the same Hebrew verb used to describe the passing of the children through the fire.
[20:37] 477 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] 478 tn See the note at 2:3.
[20:39] 479 sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.
[20:39] 480 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] 481 sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.
[20:40] 483 tn Heb “all of it.”
[20:42] 484 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
[20:43] 486 tn Heb “loathe yourselves in your faces.”
[20:45] 487 sn Beginning with 20:45, the verse numbers through 21:32 in the English Bible differ by five from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 20:45 ET = 21:1 HT, 20:46 ET = 21:2 HT, 21:1 ET = 21:6 HT etc., through 21:32 ET = 21:37 HT. Beginning with 22:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
[20:46] 488 tn Heb “set your face toward.” This expression occurs as well in Ezek 6:2; 13:17.
[20:46] 489 tn Or “the way toward the south,” or “the way toward Teman.” Teman is in the south and may be a location or the direction.
[20:46] 490 tn Or “toward Darom.” Darom may mean the south or a region just north of southern city of Beer Sheba. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:417-18.
[20:46] 491 tn The Hebrew term can also mean “forest,” but a meaning of uncultivated wasteland fits the Negev region far better. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:418.
[20:47] 492 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[20:47] 493 tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.
[20:48] 494 tn Heb “all flesh.”
[21:1] 495 sn Ezek 21:1 in the English Bible is 21:6 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 20:45.
[21:2] 496 tn Heb “set your face toward.”
[21:2] 497 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[21:3] 498 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
[21:3] 499 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
[21:3] 500 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.
[21:3] 501 sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
[21:3] 502 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.
[21:4] 503 tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).
[21:4] 504 tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.
[21:6] 505 tn Heb “breaking loins.”
[21:7] 506 tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”
[21:7] 507 sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.
[21:10] 508 tn Heb “Or shall we rejoice, scepter of my son, it despises every tree.” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned just before this. Alternatively, the line may be understood as “let us not rejoice, O tribe of my son; it despises every tree.” The same word in Hebrew may be either “rod,” “scepter,” or “tribe.” The word sometimes translated as “or” or taken as an interrogative particle may be a negative particle. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:672, n. 79.
[21:12] 509 sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.
[21:13] 510 tn Heb “For testing (will come) and what if also a scepter, it despises, will not be?” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned in the previous verses. The text is very difficult and any rendering is uncertain.
[21:20] 513 tc The MT reads “Judah in fortified Jerusalem,” a geographic impossibility. The translation follows the LXX, which assumes בְּתוֹכָהּ (bÿtokhah, “in it”) for בְּצוּרָה (bÿtsurah, “fortified”).
[21:21] 515 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] 516 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
[21:21] 518 tn Heb “the liver.”
[21:22] 519 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
[21:22] 520 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
[21:22] 521 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
[21:23] 522 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:23] 523 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] 524 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:23] 526 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).
[21:24] 527 tn Heb “caused to be remembered.”
[21:24] 528 tn Heb “Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt when your transgressions are uncovered so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds – because you are remembered, by the hand you will be seized.”
[21:25] 529 tn This probably refers to King Zedekiah.
[21:26] 530 tn Elsewhere in the Bible the turban is worn by priests (Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev 8:9; 16:4), but here a royal crown is in view.
[21:26] 531 tn Heb “This not this.”
[21:26] 532 tn Heb “the high one.”
[21:27] 533 tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.
[21:27] 534 tn Heb “Also this, he was not, until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it.” The Hebrew text, as it stands, is grammatically difficult. The pronoun “this” is feminine, while the following negated verb (“was not”) is masculine. Some emend the verb to a feminine form (see BHS). In this case the statement refers to the destiny of the king’s turban/crown (symbolizing his reign). See the previous note. The preposition translated “when” normally means “until,” but here it seems to refer to the period during which the preceding situation is realized, rather than its termination point. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:19, 21. The second part of the statement, though awkward, probably refers to the arrival of the Babylonian king, to whom the Lord had assigned the task of judgment (see 23:24). Or the verse may read “A total ruin I will make, even this. It will not be until the one comes to whom is (the task of) judgment and I have assigned it.”
[21:28] 535 tn Heb “their reproach.”
[21:28] 536 tn Heb “to contain, endure.” Since the Hebrew text as it stands makes little, if any, sense, most emend the text to read either “to consume” or “for destruction.” For discussion of options see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:693.
[21:29] 537 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] 538 tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[21:29] 539 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.
[21:30] 540 sn Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands it to halt and announces that Babylon itself will also experience his judgment. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:28.
[21:30] 541 tn In the Hebrew text of vv. 30-32 the second person verbal and pronominal forms are feminine singular. This may indicate that the personified Babylonian sword is being addressed. The Hebrew word for “sword” (see v. 28) is feminine. However, it may refer to the Ammonites.
[21:32] 542 tn Heb “your blood will be in the middle of the land.”
[22:2] 543 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment upon the city. See 20:4.
[22:2] 544 tn The phrase “bloody city” is used of Nineveh in Nah 3:1.
[22:3] 545 tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).
[22:4] 546 tn Heb “you have brought near your days.” The expression “bring near your days” appears to be an adaptation of the idiom “days draw near,” which is used to indicate that an event, such as death, is imminent (see Gen 27:41; 47:29; Deut 31:14; 1 Kgs 2:1; Ezek 12:23). Here “your days” probably refers to the days of the personified city’s life, which was about to come to an end through God’s judgment.
[22:4] 547 tn Heb “and you have come to your years.” This appears to mean that she has arrived at the time when her years (i.e., life) would end, though it may mean that her years of punishment will begin. Because “day” and “time” are so closely associated in the immediate context (see 21:25, 29) some prefer to emend the text and read “you have brought near your time.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:31, as well as the translator’s note on verse 3.
[22:4] 548 tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.
[22:5] 549 tn Heb “unclean of name.”
[22:6] 550 tn Heb “Look! The princes of Israel, each according to his arm, were in you in order to shed blood.”
[22:7] 551 tn Heb “treated lightly, cursed.”
[22:7] 552 tn Widows and orphans are often coupled together in the OT (Deut 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:19-21; 26:12-13; Jer 7:6; 22:3). They represented all who were poor and vulnerable to economic exploitation.
[22:9] 553 tn Heb “men of slander are in you in order to shed blood.”
[22:9] 554 tn Heb “and on the mountains they eat within you.” The mountains mentioned here were the site of pagan sacrifices. See 18:6.
[22:9] 555 sn This statement introduces vv. 10-11 and refers in general terms to the sexual sins described there. For the legal background of vv. 10-11, see Lev 18:7-20; 20:10-21; Deut 22:22-23, 30; 27:22.
[22:10] 556 tn Heb “the nakedness of a father one uncovers within you.” The ancient versions read the verb as plural (“they uncover”). If the singular is retained, it must be taken as indefinite and representative of the entire group. The idiomatic expression “uncover the nakedness” refers here to sexual intercourse (cf. Lev 18:6). To uncover a father’s nakedness could include sexual relations with one’s own mother (Lev 18:7), but more likely it refers to having intercourse with another wife of one’s father, such as a stepmother (Lev 18:8; cf. Gen 35:22; 49:4).
[22:10] 557 tn Heb “(one who is) unclean due to the impurity they humble within you.” The use of the verb “to humble” suggests that these men forced themselves upon women during menstruation. Having sexual relations with a woman during her period was forbidden by the Law (Lev 18:19; 20:18).
[22:11] 559 tn The verb is the same one used in verse 10b and suggests forcible sexual violation of the woman.
[22:11] 560 sn Sexual relations with one’s half-sister may be primarily in view here. See Lev 18:9; 20:17.
[22:12] 561 tn Heb “usury and interest you take.” See 18:13, 17. This kind of economic exploitation violated the law given in Lev 25:36.
[22:12] 562 sn Forgetting the Lord is also addressed in Deut 6:12; 8:11, 14; Jer 3:21; 13:25; Ezek 23:35; Hos 2:15; 8:14; 13:6.
[22:12] 563 tn The second person verb forms are feminine singular in Hebrew, indicating that the personified city is addressed here as representing its citizens.
[22:13] 564 sn This gesture apparently expresses mourning and/or anger (see 6:11; 21:14, 17).
[22:13] 565 tn Heb “the blood which was in you.”
[22:14] 566 tn Heb “stand.” The heart here stands for the emotions; Jerusalem would panic in the face of God’s judgment.
[22:14] 567 tn Heb “in the days when I act against you.”
[22:15] 568 sn The ultimate purpose of divine judgment is to purify the covenant community of its sins.
[22:16] 569 tc Several ancient versions read the verb as first person, in which case the Lord refers to how his people’s sin brings disgrace upon him. For a defense of the Hebrew text, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:712, n. 68, and M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:457-58.
[22:18] 570 tn For similar imagery, see Isa 1:21-26; Jer 6:27-30.
[22:19] 571 tn The Hebrew second person pronoun is masculine plural here and in vv. 19b-21, indicating that the people are being addressed.
[22:19] 572 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[22:20] 573 tn Heb “I will put.” No object is supplied in the Hebrew, prompting many to emend the text to “I will blow.” See BHS and verse 21.
[22:24] 574 tc The MT reads “that is not cleansed”; the LXX reads “that is not drenched,” which assumes a different vowel pointing as well as the loss of a מ (mem) due to haplography. In light of the following reference to showers, the reading of the LXX certainly fits the context well. For a defense of the emendation, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32. Yet the MT is not an unreasonable reading since uncleanness in the land also fits the context, and a poetic connection between rain and the land being uncleansed may be feasible since washing with water is elsewhere associated with cleansing (Num 8:7; 31:23; Ps 51:7).
[22:24] 575 tn Heb “in a day of anger.”
[22:25] 576 tn Heb “a conspiracy of her prophets is in her midst.” The LXX reads “whose princes” rather than “a conspiracy of prophets.” The prophets are mentioned later in the paragraph (v. 28). If one follows the LXX in verse 25, then five distinct groups are mentioned in vv. 25-29: princes, priests, officials, prophets, and the people of the land. For a defense of the Septuagintal reading, see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:32, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:720, n. 4.
[22:25] 577 tn Heb “her widows they have multiplied.” The statement alludes to their murderous acts.
[22:26] 578 tn Or “between the consecrated and the common.”
[22:26] 579 tn Heb “hide their eyes from.” The idiom means to disregard or ignore something or someone (see Lev 20:4; 1 Sam 12:3; Prov 28:27; Isa 1:15).
[22:28] 580 tn Heb “her prophets coat for themselves with whitewash.” The expression may be based on Ezek 13:10-15.
[22:29] 581 tn Heb “and the foreigner they have oppressed without justice.”
[22:30] 582 tn Heb “I did not find.”
[22:31] 583 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
[23:3] 584 tn In the Hebrew text the subject is left unstated and must be supplied from the context.
[23:4] 585 tn The names Oholah and Oholibah are both derived from the word meaning “tent.” The meaning of Oholah is “her tent,” while Oholibah means “my tent is in her.”
[23:4] 586 sn In this allegory the Lord is depicted as being the husband of two wives. The OT law prohibited a man from marrying sisters (Lev 18:18), but the practice is attested in the OT (cf. Jacob). The metaphor is utilized here for illustrative purposes and does not mean that the Lord condoned such a practice or bigamy in general.
[23:5] 587 tn Heb “while she was under me.” The expression indicates that Oholah is viewed as the Lord’s wife. See Num 5:19-20, 29.
[23:5] 589 tn The term apparently refers to Assyrian military officers; it is better construed with the description that follows. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:738.
[23:7] 590 tn Heb “lusted after.”
[23:8] 591 tn Heb “and poured out their harlotry on her.”
[23:9] 592 tn Heb “I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the sons of Assyria.”
[23:11] 594 tn The word “this” is not in the original text.
[23:14] 595 tn The only other occurrence of the Hebrew term is in Jer 22:14.
[23:15] 596 tn Heb “the sons of Babel.”
[23:16] 597 tn Heb “at the appearance of her eyes.”
[23:16] 598 sn The Chaldeans were prominent tribal groups of Babylonia. The imagery is reminiscent of events in the reigns of Hezekiah (2 Kgs 20:12-15) and Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23:34-24:1).
[23:17] 599 tn Heb “The sons of Babel came to her on a bed of love.”
[23:17] 600 tn Heb “her soul.”
[23:18] 601 tn Heb “She exposed her harlotry and she exposed her nakedness.”
[23:20] 604 tn Heb “She lusted after their concubines (?) whose flesh was the flesh of donkeys.” The phrase “their concubines” is extremely problematic here. The pronoun is masculine plural, suggesting that the Egyptian men are in view, but how concubines would fit into the picture envisioned here is not clear. Some suggest that Ezekiel uses the term in an idiomatic sense of “paramour,” but this still fails to explain how the pronoun relates to the noun. It is more likely that the term refers here to the Egyptians’ genitals. The relative pronoun that follows introduces a more specific description of their genitals.
[23:21] 605 tn Or “you took note of.” The Hebrew verb פָּקַד (paqad) in the Qal implies evaluating something and then acting in light of that judgment; here the prophet depicts Judah as approving of her youthful unfaithfulness and then magnifying it at the present time. Some translations assume the verb should be repointed as a Niphal, rendering “you missed” or by extension “you longed for,” but such an extension of the Niphal “to be missing” is otherwise unattested.
[23:21] 606 tn Heb “when (they) did,” but the verb makes no sense here and is better emended to “when (they) fondled,” a verb used in vv. 3 and 8. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.
[23:21] 607 tn Heb “for the sake of,” but the expression is awkward and is better emended to read “to squeeze.” See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:43.
[23:22] 608 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[23:23] 609 sn Pekod was the name of an Aramean tribe (known as Puqudu in Mesopotamian texts) that lived in the region of the Tigris River.
[23:23] 610 sn Shoa was the name of a nomadic people (the Sutu) that lived in Mesopotamia.
[23:23] 611 sn Koa was the name of another Mesopotamian people group (the Qutu).
[23:24] 612 tn Heb “come against.”
[23:24] 613 tn This is the only occurrence of this term in the OT. The precise meaning is uncertain.
[23:24] 614 tn Heb “an assembly of peoples.”
[23:24] 615 tn Heb “I will place before them judgment.”
[23:25] 617 tn Heb “they will remove.”
[23:27] 619 tn Heb “I will cause your obscene conduct to cease from you and your harlotry from the land of Egypt.”
[23:27] 620 tn Heb “lift your eyes to them.”
[23:28] 621 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
[23:28] 622 tn Heb “I am giving you into the hand of.”
[23:29] 623 tn The Hebrew term means “labor,” but by extension it can also refer to that for which one works.
[23:29] 624 tn Heb “The nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, and your obscene conduct and your harlotry.”
[23:30] 625 tn The infinitive absolute continues the sequence begun in v. 28: “Look here, I am about to deliver you.” See Joüon 2:430 §123.w.
[23:31] 626 tn Heb “her cup.” A cup of intoxicating strong drink is used, here and elsewhere, as a metaphor for judgment because both leave one confused and reeling. (See Jer 25:15, 17, 28; Hab 2:16.) The cup of wrath is a theme also found in the NT (Mark 14:36).
[23:32] 627 sn The image of a deep and wide cup suggests the degree of punishment; it will be extensive and leave the victim helpless.
[23:33] 628 tn Heb “filled with.”
[23:34] 629 tn Heb “You will drink it and drain (it).”
[23:34] 630 tn D. I. Block compares this to the idiom of “licking the plate” (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:754, n. 137). The text is difficult as the word translated “gnaw” is rare. The noun is used of the shattered pieces of pottery and so could envision a broken cup. But the Piel verb form is used in only one other place (Num 24:8), where it is a denominative from the noun “bone” and seems to mean to “break (bones).” Why it would be collocated with “sherds” is not clear. For this reason some emend the phrase to read “consume its dregs” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:44) or emend the verb to read “swallow,” as if the intoxicated Oholibah breaks the cup and then eats the very sherds in an effort to get every last drop of the beverage that dampens them.
[23:34] 631 sn The severe action is more extreme than beating the breasts in anguish (Isa 32:12; Nah 2:7). It is also ironic for these are the very breasts she so blatantly offered to her lovers (vv. 3, 21).
[23:35] 632 tn Heb “and you cast me behind your back.” The expression pictures her rejection of the Lord (see 1 Kgs 14:9).
[23:35] 633 tn The word “punishment” is not in the Hebrew text but is demanded by the context.
[23:36] 634 tn Heb “will you judge.” Here the imperfect form of the verb is probably used with a desiderative nuance. Addressed to the prophet, “judge” means to warn of or pronounce God’s impending judgment. See 20:4; 22:2.
[23:37] 635 sn The Lord speaks here in the role of the husband of the sisters.
[23:37] 636 tn Heb “they have passed to them for food.” The verb is commonly taken to refer to passing children through fire, especially as an offering to the pagan god Molech. See Jer 32:35.
[23:38] 637 tn Heb “in that day.”
[23:40] 638 tn Heb “to whom a messenger was sent, and look, they came.” Foreign alliances are in view here.
[23:40] 639 tn The Hebrew verb form is feminine singular, indicating that Oholibah (Judah) is specifically addressed here. This address continues through verse 42a (note “her”), but then both sisters are described in verse 42b, where the feminine pronouns are again plural.
[23:42] 640 tn Heb “(was) in her.”
[23:42] 641 tn Heb “and men from the multitude of mankind.”
[23:42] 642 tn An alternate reading is “drunkards.” Sheba is located in the area of modern day Yemen.
[23:42] 643 tn Heb “they”; the referents (the sisters) have been specified in the translation for the sake of clarity.
[23:44] 644 tn Heb “and they came to her.”
[23:45] 645 tn Heb “and upright men will judge them (with) the judgment of adulteresses and the judgment of those who shed blood.”
[23:46] 646 tn Heb “assembly.”
[23:46] 647 tn Heb “give them to.”
[23:47] 648 tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”
[23:49] 649 tn Heb “and the sins of your idols you will bear.” By extension it can mean the punishment for the sins.
[24:1] 650 tn The date of this oracle was January 15, 588
[24:2] 651 tn Heb “lean on, put pressure on.”
[24:2] 652 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[24:3] 653 sn The book of Ezekiel frequently refers to the Israelites as a rebellious house (Ezek 2:5, 6, 8; 3:9, 26-27; 12:2-3, 9, 25; 17:12; 24:3).
[24:3] 654 sn See Ezek 11:3-12.
[24:6] 656 tn Heb “has not gone out.”
[24:6] 657 tn Here “lot” may refer to the decision made by casting lots; it is not chosen at all.
[24:11] 658 tn Heb “set it upon its coals, empty.”
[24:11] 659 tn Or “rust” (so also in v. 12).
[24:12] 660 tn Heb “(with) toil she has wearied.” The meaning of the statement is unclear in the Hebrew text; some follow the LXX and delete it. The first word in the statement (rendered “toil” in the literal translation above) occurs only here in the OT, and the verb “she has wearied” lacks a stated object. Elsewhere the Hiphil of the verb refers to wearying someone or trying someone’s patience. The feminine subject is apparently the symbolic pot.
[24:12] 661 tn Heb “does not go out.”
[24:12] 662 tn Heb “in fire its rust.” The meaning of the expression is unclear. The translation understands the statement as a command to burn the rust away. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:768.
[24:13] 663 tn Heb “in your uncleanness (is) obscene conduct.”
[24:13] 664 tn Heb “because I cleansed you.” In this context (see especially the very next statement), the statement must refer to divine intention and purpose. Despite God’s efforts to cleanse his people, they resisted him and remained morally impure.
[24:13] 665 tn The Hebrew text adds the word “again.”
[24:14] 666 tn Heb “it”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[24:14] 667 tn Or perhaps, “change my mind.”
[24:14] 668 tc Some medieval Hebrew
[24:16] 670 tn Heb “a strike.”
[24:17] 671 tn Or “Groan silently. As to the dead….” Cf. M. Greenberg’s suggestion that דֹּם מֵתִים (dom metim) be taken together and דֹּם be derived from ָדּמַם (damam, “to moan, murmur”). See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:508.
[24:17] 672 tn Heb “(For) the dead mourning you shall not conduct.” In the Hebrew text the word translated “dead” is plural, indicating that mourning rites are in view. Such rites would involve outward demonstrations of one’s sorrow, including wailing and weeping.
[24:17] 673 sn The turban would normally be removed for mourning (Josh 7:6; 1 Sam 4:12).
[24:17] 674 sn Mourning rites included covering the lower part of the face. See Lev 13:45.
[24:17] 675 tn Heb “the bread of men.” The translation follows the suggestion accepted by M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 2:509) that this refers to a meal brought by comforters to the one mourning. Some repoint the consonantal text to read “the bread of despair” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 2:56), while others, with support from the Targum and Vulgate, emend the consonantal text to read “the bread of mourners” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:784).
[24:18] 676 tn This may refer to the following morning. For a discussion of various interpretive options in understanding the chronology reflected in verse 18, see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:790.
[24:21] 677 tn Heb “the pride of your strength” means “your strong pride.”
[24:21] 678 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] 679 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.”
[24:23] 682 tn The same verb appears in 4:17 and 33:10.
[24:23] 683 tn Or “in your 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; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment” for iniquity or “guilt” of iniquity.
[24:25] 684 tn Heb “(Will) it not (be) in the day I take?”
[24:25] 685 tn Heb “the uplifting of their soul.” According to BDB 672 s.v. מַשָּׂא 2, the term “uplifting” refers to “that to which they lift up their soul, their heart’s desire.” However, this text is the only one listed for this use. It seems more likely that the term has its well-attested nuance of “burden, load,” here and refers to that which weighs them down emotionally and is a constant source of concern or worry.
[24:25] 686 tn In the Hebrew text there is no conjunction before “their sons and daughters.” For this reason one might assume that the preceding descriptive phrases refer to the sons and daughters, but verse 21 suggests otherwise. The descriptive phrases appear to refer to the “stronghold,” which parallels “my sanctuary” in verse 21. The children constitute a separate category.
