Yehezkiel 20:17-18

20:17 Yet I had pity on ¹  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 ²  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ³  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Yehezkiel 22:3-4

22:3 Then say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: O city, who spills blood within herself (which brings on her doom), ⁴  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; ⁵  the end of your years has come. ⁶  Therefore I will make ⁷  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands.

Yehezkiel 23:7

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 ⁸  – with all their idols.

[20:17]  ¹ tn Heb “my eye pitied.”

[20:18]  ² tn Heb “sons,” reflecting the patriarchal idiom of the culture.

[20:18]  ³ tn Or “standard of justice.” See Ezek 7:27.

[22:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[23:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “lusted after.”