Yehezkiel 33:23-33

33:23 The word of the Lord came to me: 33:24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’ ¹  33:25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, ²  pray to ³  your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess ⁴  the land? 33:26 You rely ⁵  on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’

33:27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die ⁶  by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 33:28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 33:29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’ ⁷ 

33:30 “But as for you, son of man, your people ⁸  (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ⁹  ‘Come hear the word that comes ¹⁰  from the Lord.’ 33:31 They come to you in crowds, ¹¹  and they sit in front of you as ¹²  my people. They hear your words, but do not obey ¹³  them. For they talk lustfully, ¹⁴  and their heart is set on ¹⁵  their own advantage. ¹⁶  33:32 Realize ¹⁷  that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. ¹⁸  They hear your words, but they do not obey them. ¹⁹  33:33 When all this comes true – and it certainly will ²⁰  – then they will know that a prophet was among them.”

[33:24]  ¹ sn Outside of its seven occurrences in Ezekiel the term translated “possession” appears only in Exod 6:8 and Deut 33:4.

[33:25]  ² sn This practice was a violation of Levitical law (see Lev 19:26).

[33:25]  ³ tn Heb “lift up your eyes.”

[33:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “Will you possess?”

[33:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “stand.”

[33:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “fall.”

[33:29]  ⁷ sn The judgments of vv. 27-29 echo the judgments of Lev 26:22, 25.

[33:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “sons of your people.”

[33:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “one to one, a man to his brother.”

[33:30]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “comes out.”

[33:31]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as people come.” Apparently this is an idiom indicating that they come in crowds. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:264.

[33:31]  ¹² tn The word “as” is supplied in the translation.

[33:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “do.”

[33:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “They do lust with their mouths.”

[33:31]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “goes after.”

[33:31]  ¹⁶ tn The present translation understands the term often used for “unjust gain” in a wider sense, following M. Greenberg, who also notes that the LXX uses a term which can describe either sexual or ritual pollution. See M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 2:687.

[33:32]  ¹⁷ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[33:32]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “one who makes playing music well.”

[33:32]  ¹⁹ sn Similar responses are found in Isa 29:13; Matt 21:28-32; James 1:22-25.

[33:33]  ²⁰ tn Heb “behold it is coming.”