Yehezkiel 1:28

1:28 like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds after the rain. ¹  This was the appearance of the surrounding brilliant light; it looked like the glory of the Lord. When I saw ²  it, I threw myself face down, and I heard a voice speaking.

Yehezkiel 6:4

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. ³ 

Yehezkiel 8:10

8:10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure ⁴  of creeping thing and beast – detestable images ⁵  – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. ⁶ 

Yehezkiel 9:11

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.”

Yehezkiel 14:3

14:3 “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity ⁷  right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek ⁸  me?

Yehezkiel 16:17

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 ⁹  with them.

Yehezkiel 16:28

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.

Yehezkiel 16:51

16:51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. ¹⁰  You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done.

Yehezkiel 20:7

20:7 I said to them, “Each of you must get rid of the detestable idols you keep before you, ¹¹  and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”

Yehezkiel 20:16

20:16 I did this ¹²  because they rejected my regulations, did not follow my statutes, and desecrated my Sabbaths; for their hearts followed their idols. ¹³ 

Yehezkiel 20:18

20:18 “‘But I said to their children ¹⁴  in the wilderness, “Do not follow the practices of your fathers; do not observe their regulations, ¹⁵  nor defile yourselves with their idols.

Yehezkiel 21:21

21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork ¹⁶  in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: ¹⁷  He shakes arrows, he consults idols, ¹⁸  he examines ¹⁹  animal livers. ²⁰ 

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), ²¹  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; ²²  the end of your years has come. ²³  Therefore I will make ²⁴  you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands.

Yehezkiel 23:39

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.

Yehezkiel 23:48

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.

Yehezkiel 36:12

36:12 I will lead people, my people Israel, across you; they will possess you and you will become their inheritance. No longer will you bereave them of their children.

Yehezkiel 36:18

36:18 So I poured my anger on them ²⁵  because of the blood they shed on the land and because of the idols with which they defiled it. ²⁶ 

Yehezkiel 36:25

36:25 I will sprinkle you with pure water ²⁷  and you will be clean from all your impurities. I will purify you from all your idols.

Yehezkiel 40:39

40:39 In the porch of the gate were two tables on either side on which to slaughter the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering.

Yehezkiel 43:9

43:9 Now they must put away their spiritual prostitution and the pillars of their kings far from me, and then I will live among them forever.

Yehezkiel 43:19

43:19 you will give a young bull for a sin offering to the Levitical priests who are descended from Zadok, who approach me to minister to me, declares the sovereign Lord.

[1:28]  ¹ sn Reference to the glowing substance and the brilliant light and storm phenomena in vv. 27-28a echoes in reverse order the occurrence of these phenomena in v. 4.

[1:28]  ² tn The vision closes with the repetition of the verb “I saw” from the beginning of the vision in 1:4.

[6:4]  ³ tn Thirty-nine of the forty-eight biblical occurrences of this Hebrew word are found in the book of Ezekiel.

[6:4]  sn This verse is probably based on Lev 26:30 in which God forecasts that he will destroy their high places, cut off their incense altars, and set their corpses by the corpses of their idols.

[8:10]  ⁴ tn Or “pattern.”

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “detestable.” The word is often used to describe the figures of foreign gods.

[8:10]  ⁶ sn These engravings were prohibited in the Mosaic law (Deut 4:16-18).

[14:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.

[14:3]  ⁸ 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).

[16:17]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. CEV, NLT).

[16:51]  ¹⁰ tn Or “you have multiplied your abominable deeds beyond them.”

[20:7]  ¹¹ 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.

[20:16]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.

[20:18]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “sons,” reflecting the patriarchal idiom of the culture.

[20:18]  ¹⁵ tn Or “standard of justice.” See Ezek 7:27.

[21:21]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “mother.”

[21:21]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).

[21:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “sees.”

[21:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the liver.”

[22:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “her time”; this refers to the time of impending judgment (see the note on “doom” in v. 4).

[22:4]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn The Hebrew verb is a prophetic perfect, emphasizing that the action is as good as done from the speaker’s perspective.

[36:18]  ²⁵ sn See Ezek 7:8; 9:8; 14:19; 20:8, 13, 21; 22:22; 30:15.

[36:18]  ²⁶ sn For the concept of defiling the land in legal literature, see Lev 18:28; Deut 21:23.

[36:25]  ²⁷ sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.