Ezekiel 20
20
Israel’s Continuing Rebellion
1In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel # Eze 1:2; 8:1; 24:1 came to inquire of the Lord and sat before me.
2Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 3Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. # Mic 3:7
4Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers. # Eze 22:2; 23:36 5And say to them: Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, # Ge 14:22; Ex 3:8 and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand to them, saying, I am the Lord your God, 6on that day that I lifted up My hand to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, # Ps 48:2; Eze 20:15 7then I said to them: Cast away, each of you, the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. # Lev 18:3 I am the Lord your God. # Ex 20:2
8But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me. # Isa 63:10 They did not cast away the abominations of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I will pour out My fury upon them, to accomplish My anger against them # Eze 5:13 in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9But I acted for My name’s sake, # Eze 20:14, 22 that it should not be polluted before the nations among whom they were, in whose sight I made Myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10Therefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, # Dt 4:8 which if a man does them, he shall live. # Lev 18:5 12Moreover I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between them and Me, # Ex 20:8–11 that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. # Lev 21:23
13But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, which if a man does them, he shall live. # Eze 20:21 And My Sabbaths they greatly polluted. Then I said I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them. # Dt 9:8; Eze 20:8 14But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the nations in whose sight I brought them out. # Eze 20:9 15Also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, # Ps 95:11; 106:26 flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, 16because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but polluted My Sabbaths, for their hearts went after their idols. # Nu 15:39; Eze 14:3–4 17Nevertheless My eye spared them from destroying them, nor did I make an end of them in the wilderness. # Jer 4:27; Eze 11:13 18But I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. # Dt 4:3–6; Eze 20:7 19I am the Lord your God: Walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them. 20And make holy My Sabbaths. # Jer 17:22 And they shall be a sign between Me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God. # Eze 20:12
21Yet the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes, nor did they keep My judgments to do them, which if a man does them, he shall live. They polluted My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury upon them to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. # Nu 21:5; Eze 20:8, 13 22Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the nations in whose sight I brought them out. # Eze 20:9, 14 23I lifted up My hand to them also in the wilderness, # Eze 20:15 that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, # Lev 26:33 24because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes and had polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. # Eze 6:9; 20:16 25Therefore I gave them also statutes that were not good and judgments by which they could not live. # Jdg 2:20–23; Ps 81:12; Isa 66:4 26And I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all who opened the womb, that I might make them desolate in order that they might know that I am the Lord. # Lev 18:21; Eze 6:7
27Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, # Ro 2:24 in that they have committed a trespass against Me. # Eze 2:7 28When I had brought them into the land for which I lifted up My hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill and all the leafy trees, and there they offered their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering. There also they made their sweet aroma # Eze 6:13 and there poured out their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them: What is the high place to which you go? And the name is called Bamah to this day.
30Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers # Jdg 2:19; Jer 16:12 and commit harlotry after their abominations? 31When you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols, # Ps 106:37–39; Jer 7:31 even to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
32That which comes into your mind # Jer 44:17; Eze 11:5 shall not come about when you say, “We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.”
God Will Restore Israel
33As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm # Jer 21:5 and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34And I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered # Eze 20:38; 34:16 with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with fury poured out. 35I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. # Jer 2:35; Hos 2:14 36As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, # Nu 11; 1Co 10:5–10 so I will enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God. 37I will cause you to pass under the rod, # Lev 27:32; Jer 33:13 and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38And I will purge from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel. # Ps 95:11; Eze 13:9 And you shall know that I am the Lord.
39As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go serve every one of you his idols, # Jdg 10:14 but later you shall surely listen to Me. But do not pollute My holy name anymore with your gifts and with your idols. # Isa 1:13–15 40For on My holy mountain, on the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve Me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will seek your offerings and the firstfruits of your gifts with all your holy things. # Isa 56:7; 60:7 41I will accept you with your sweet aroma 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 among you before the nations. # Eze 11:17; 28:25 42You shall know that I am the Lord # Eze 38:23 when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I lifted up My hand to give it to your fathers. # Eze 34:13 43There you shall remember your ways and all your deeds in which you have been defiled. And you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. # Eze 6:9; Hos 5:15 44You shall know that I am the Lord # Eze 24:24 when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, # Eze 20:9 not according to your wicked ways, or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.
A Prophecy Against the Negev
45Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 46Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land in the Negev. # Eze 21:2; Am 7:16 47And say to the forest of the Negev, Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, # Isa 9:18–19; Jer 21:14 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 burned in it. 48All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it. It shall not be quenched.
49Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’ ” # Jn 16:25
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Ezekiel 20: MEV
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.
Ezekiel 20
20
1 And it happened that, in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the elders of Israel arrived, so that they might inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me.
2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Have you arrived in order to inquire of me? As I live, I will not answer you, says the Lord God.
4 If you judge them, if you judge, O son of man, reveal to them the abominations of their fathers.
5 And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel, and I lifted up my hand on behalf of the stock of the house of Jacob, and I appeared to them in the land of Egypt, and I lifted up my hand on their behalf, saying, 'I am the Lord your God,'
6 in that day, I lifted up my hand for their sake, so that I would lead them away from the land of Egypt, into a land which I had provided for them, flowing with milk and honey, which was singular among all lands.
7 And I said to them: 'Let each one cast away the offenses of his eyes, and do not choose to defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.'
8 But they provoked me, and they were not willing to listen to me. Each one of them did not cast away the abominations of his eyes, nor did they leave behind the idols of Egypt. And so, I said that I would pour out my indignation upon them, and fulfill my wrath against them, in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be violated in the sight of the Gentiles, in the midst of whom they were, and among whom I appeared to them, so that I might lead them away from the land of Egypt.
10 Therefore, I cast them out of the land of Egypt, and I led them away into the desert.
11 And I gave them my precepts, and I revealed to them my judgments, which, if a man does them, he shall live by them.
12 Moreover, I also gave to them my Sabbaths, so that these would be a sign between me and them, and so that they would know that I am the Lord, who sanctifies them.
13 But the house of Israel provoked me in the desert. They did not walk in my precepts, and they cast aside my judgments, which, if a man does them, he shall live by them. And they grievously violated my Sabbaths. Therefore, I said that I would pour out my fury upon them in the desert, and that I would consume them.
14 But I acted for the sake of my name, lest it be violated before the Gentiles, from whom I cast them out, in their sight.
15 And so I lifted up my hand over them in the desert, so as not to lead them into the land that I had given to them, flowing with milk and honey, the foremost of all lands.
16 For they cast aside my judgments, and they did not walk in my precepts, and they violated my Sabbaths. For their heart went after idols.
17 Yet my eye was lenient concerning them, so that I did not utterly destroy them, nor did I consume them in the desert.
18 Then I said to their sons in the wilderness: 'Do not choose to advance by the precepts of your fathers, nor should you observe their judgments. And do not be defiled by their idols.
19 I am the Lord your God. Walk in my precepts, and observe my judgments, and accomplish them.
20 And sanctify my Sabbaths, so that these may be a sign between me and you, and so that you may know that I am the Lord your God.'
21 But their sons provoked me. They did not walk in my precepts. And they did not observe my judgments, so as to do them; for if a man does them, he shall live by them. And they violated my Sabbaths. And so, I threatened that I would pour out my fury upon them, and that I would fulfill my wrath among them in the desert.
22 But I turned aside my hand, and I acted for the sake of my name, so that it would not be violated before the Gentiles, from whom I cast them out, before their eyes.
23 Again, I lifted up my hand against them, in the wilderness, so that I would disperse them among the nations, and scatter them among the lands.
24 For they had not accomplished my judgments, and they had rejected my precepts, and they had violated my Sabbaths. And their eyes had been after the idols of their fathers.
25 Therefore, I also gave them precepts that were not good, and judgments by which they shall not live.
26 And I defiled them by their own gifts, when they offered everything that opened the womb, because of their offenses. And they shall know that I am the Lord.
27 For this reason, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God. Yet also in this did your fathers blaspheme me, after they had spurned and despised me,
28 though I had led them into the land, about which I lifted up my hand, so that I might give it to them: They saw every lofty hill and every leafy tree, and there they immolated their victims, and there they presented the provocation of their oblations, and there they stationed their sweet fragrances, and poured out their libations.
29 And I said to them, 'What is exalted about the place to which you go?' And yet its name is called 'Exalted,' even to this day.
30 Because of this, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Certainly, you are defiled by the way of your fathers, and you have fornicated after their stumbling blocks.
31 And you are being defiled by all of your idols, even to this day, by the oblation of your gifts, when you lead your sons through the fire. And should I respond to you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not answer you.
32 And the plan of your mind will not occur, saying: 'We will be like the Gentiles, and like the families of the earth, so that we worship what is wood and stone.'
33 As I live, says the Lord God, I will reign over you with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured forth.
34 And I will lead you away from the peoples. And I will gather you from the lands into which you were dispersed. I will reign over you with a powerful hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.
35 And I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you, face to face.
36 Just as I contended in judgment against your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so also will I enter into judgment with you, says the Lord God.
37 And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will lead you into the bonds of the covenant.
38 And I will select, from among you, the transgressors and the impious. And I will lead them away from the land of their sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
39 And as for you, house of Israel: thus says the Lord God: Walk, each one of you, after your idols and serve them. But if in this also you will not listen to me, and you continue to defile my holy name with your gifts and with your idols,
40 on my holy mountain, on the exalted mountain of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel shall serve me; all of them, I say, in the land in which they shall please me, and there I will require your first-fruits, and the foremost of your tithes, with all your sanctifications.
41 I will receive from you a fragrance of sweetness, when I will have led you away from the peoples, and gathered you from the lands into which you were dispersed. And I will be sanctified in you before the eyes of the nations.
42 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have led you into the land of Israel, into the land about which I lifted up my hand, so that I would give it to your fathers.
43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your wickedness, by which you have been defiled. And you will be displeased with yourselves in your own sight, over all your evil deeds which you did.
44 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have acted well toward you for the sake of my name, and not according to your evil ways, nor according to your very great wickedness, O house of Israel, says the Lord God."
45 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
46 "Son of man, set your face against the way of the south, and pour in drops toward Africa, and prophesy against the forest of the field of the meridian.
47 And you shall say to the meridian forest: Listen to the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and I will burn up within you every green tree and every dry tree. The flame of the kindling will not be extinguished. And every face will be burned up within it, from the south, even to the north.
48 And all flesh will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it, and that it will not be extinguished."
49 And I said: "Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God! They are saying about me: 'Does this man not speak except through parables?' "
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