Ezekiel 20

ENGWEBEnglish49 verses

1In the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.

2Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

3Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.

4Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;

5and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God;

6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.

7I said to them, Cast away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.

8But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they each didn’t throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the middle of the land of Egypt.

9But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

10So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.

11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.

12Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.

13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

14But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

15Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;

16because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.

17Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.

18I said to their children in the wilderness, Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.

19I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;

20and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.

21But the children rebelled against me; they didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

22Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

23Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;

24because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

25Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;

26and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused all that opens the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.

27Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.

28For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.

29Then I said to them, What does the high place where you go mean? So its name is called Bamah to this day.

30Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? and do you play the prostitute after their abominations?

31and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you;

32and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

33As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:

34and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;

35and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

36Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord Yahweh.

37I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;

38and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

39As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.

40For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.

41As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.

42You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.

43There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.

44You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.

45Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

46Son of man, set your face toward the south, and preach toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;

47and tell the forest of the South, Hear Yahweh’s word: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby.

48All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.

49Then I said, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn’t he a speaker of parables?

Commentary

CHAPTER 20Eze 20:1-49. Rejection of the Elders' Application to the Prophet: Exposure of Israel's Protracted Rebellions, notwithstanding God's Long-suffering Goodness: Yet Will God Restore His People at Last.1. seventh year, &c.—namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (Eze 1:2; 8:1). This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently the hope of the restoration promised them in seventy years; for, when prospects are hopeless, years are not computed [Calvin].elders … came to inquire—The object of their inquiry, as in Eze 14:1, is not stated; probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national calamities and the time of their termination, as their false prophets assured them of a speedy restoration.

20:1-9. Those hearts are wretchedly hardened which ask God leave to go on in sin, and that even when suffering for it; see ver.

3. The chapter falls into two great parts: Eze 20:1-32, the recital of the people's rebellions during five distinct periods: in Egypt, the wilderness, on the borders of Canaan when a new generation arose, in Canaan, and in the time of the prophet.I will not be inquired of by you—because their moral state precluded them from capability of knowing the will of God (Ps 66:18; Pr 28:9; Joh 7:17).

4. Wilt thou judge? … judge—The emphatical repetition expresses, "Wilt thou not judge? yes, judge them. There is a loud call for immediate judgment." The Hebrew interrogative here is a command, not a prohibition [Maurer]. Instead of spending time in teaching them, tell them of the abomination of their fathers, of which their own are the complement and counterpart, and which call for judgment.

5, 6. The thrice lifting up of God's hand (the sign of His oath, Re 10:5, 6; Ex 6:8, Margin; Nu 14:30; to which passages the form of words here alludes) implies the solemn earnestness of God's purpose of grace to them.made myself known unto them—proving Myself faithful and true by the actual fulfilment of My promises (Ex 4:31; 6:3); revealing Myself as "Jehovah," that is, not that the name was unknown before, but that then first the force of that name was manifested in the promises of God then being realized in performances.

20:5 When I chose - When I shewed that I had chosen them. The history of the rebellions of the children of Israel, begins as early, as their beginning. So does the history of man's apostasy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of his creation, but we meet with that of his rebellion. So we see here, it was with Israel; a people designed to represent the body of mankind, both in their dealings with God, and in God's dealing with them. Lifted up my hand - Or stretched out and made bare my arm; that is, magnified my power for their deliverance. When I lifted up mine hand - Shewed my power in performing my oath, and assuring them of doing what was farther promised.

6. espied for them—as though God had spied out all other lands, and chose Canaan as the best of all lands (De 8:7, 8). See Da 8:9; 11:16, 41, "the glorious land"; see Margin, "land of delight," or, ornament"; "the pleasant land," or "land of desire," Zec 7:14, Margin.glory of all lands—that is, Canaan was "the beauty of all lands"; the most lovely and delightful land; "milk and honey" are not the antecedents to "which."

7. Moses gives no formal statement of idolatries practised by Israel in Egypt. But it is implied in their readiness to worship the golden calf (resembling the Egyptian ox, Apis) (Ex 32:4), which makes it likely they had worshipped such idols in Egypt. Also, in Le 17:7, "They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils (literally, seirim, 'he-goats,' the symbol of the false god, Pan), after whom they have gone awhoring." The call of God by Moses was as much to them to separate from idols and follow Jehovah, as it was to Pharaoh to let them go forth. Ex 6:6, 7 and Jos 24:14, expressly mention their idolatry "in Egypt." Hence the need of their being removed out of the contagion of Egyptian idolatries by the exodus.every man—so universal was the evil.of his eyes—It was not fear of their Egyptian masters, but their own lust of the eye that drew them to idols (Eze 6:9; 18:6).

8, 9. then I said, I will … But, &c.—that is, (God speaking in condescension to human modes of conception) their spiritual degradation deserved I should destroy them, "but I wrought (namely, the deliverance 'out of … Egypt') for My name's sake"; not for their merits (a rebuke to their national pride). God's "name" means the sum-total of His perfections. To manifest these, His gratuitous mercy abounding above their sins, yet without wrong to His justice, and so to set forth His glory, was and is the ultimate end of His dealings (Eze 20:14, 22; 2Sa 7:23; Isa 63:12; Ro 9:17).

20:10-26. The history of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in the new Testament as well as in the Old, for warning. God did great things for them. He gave them the law, and revived the ancient keeping of the sabbath day. Sabbaths are privileges; they are signs of our being his people. If we do the duty of the day, we shall find, to our comfort, it is the Lord that makes us holy, that is, truly happy, here; and prepares us to be happy, that is, perfectly holy, hereafter. The Israelites rebelled, and were left to the judgments they brought upon themselves. God sometimes makes sin to be its own punishment, yet he is not the Author of sin: there needs no more to make men miserable, than to give them up to their own evil desires and passions.

11. which if a man do, he shall … five in them—not "by them," as though they could justify a man, seeing that man cannot render the faultless obedience required (Le 18:5; Ga 3:12).

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG እንዲህም ሆነ፤ በሰባተኛው ዓመት በአምስተኛው ወር ከወሩም በአሥረኛው ቀን እግዚአብሔርን ይጠይቁ ዘንድ ከእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች አያሌ ሰዎች መጡ፥ በፊቴም ተቀመጡ። አማርኛ ENGNIV In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and… English BCV ኮነ ኸዓ፥ ኣብታ ሻውዐይቲ ዓመት፥ ኣብቲ ሓምሻይ ወርሒ፥ ኣብ ዓስረይቲ መዓልቲ፥ ብዙሓት ሰባት ካብ ዓበይቲ እስራኤል፥ ንእግዚኣብሄር ክጥይቑ መፂኦም ኣብ ቅድመይ ተቐመጡ። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Kana booddees waggaa torbaffaatti, ji'a shanaffaatti, ji'icha keessaa guyyaa kurnaffaatti, jaarsolii Israa'el keessaa j… Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ወእምዝ አመ ሳብዕ ዓመት በኃምስ ወርዓኅ አመ ዓሡር ሠርቅ መጽኡ ኀቤየ እደው እምረበናተ ቤተ እስራኤል ይስአልዎ ለእግዚአብሔር ወነበሩ ቅድመ ገጽየ። giz GAZGAZ Kana booddees waggaa torbaffaatti, ji'a shanaffaatti, ji'icha keessaa guyyaa kurnaffaatti, jaarsolii Israa'el keessaa j… Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ኮነ ኸዓ፥ ኣብታ ሻውዐይቲ ዓመት፥ ኣብቲ ሓምሻይ ወርሒ፥ ኣብ ዓስረይቲ መዓልቲ፥ ብዙሓት ሰባት ካብ ዓበይቲ እስራኤል፥ ንእግዚኣብሄር ክጥይቑ መፂኦም ኣብ ቅድመይ ተቐመጡ። ትግርኛ AMHNIV በሰባተኛው ዓመት፣ በአምስተኛው ወር፣ ከወሩም በዐሥረኛው ቀን ከእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች አንዳንዶቹ የእግዚአብሔርን ሐሳብ ሊጠይቁ መጡ፤ በፊቴም ተቀመጡ። አማርኛ