Yehezkiel 2:6

2:6 But you, son of man, do not fear them, and do not fear their words – even though briers ¹  and thorns ²  surround you and you live among scorpions – do not fear their words and do not be terrified of the looks they give you, ³  for they are a rebellious house!

Yehezkiel 3:27

3:27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue ⁴  and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse, ⁵  for they are a rebellious house.

Yehezkiel 5:15

5:15 You will be ⁶  an object of scorn and taunting, ⁷  a prime example of destruction ⁸  among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. ⁹  I, the Lord, have spoken!

Yehezkiel 6:3

6:3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, ¹⁰  Hear the word of the sovereign Lord! ¹¹  This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing ¹²  a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. ¹³ 

Yehezkiel 7:13

7:13 The customer will no longer pay the seller ¹⁴  while both parties are alive, for the vision against their whole crowd ¹⁵  will not be revoked. Each person, for his iniquity, ¹⁶  will fail to preserve his life.

Yehezkiel 12:19

12:19 Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says about the inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in fright, for their land will be stripped bare of all it contains because of the violence of all who live in it.

Yehezkiel 13:18

13:18 and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ¹⁷  on all their wrists ¹⁸  and make headbands ¹⁹  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ²⁰  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives?

Yehezkiel 14:9

14:9 “‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word – I, the Lord, have made a fool of ²¹  that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

Yehezkiel 20:5

20:5 and say to them:

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore ²²  to the descendants ²³  of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore ²⁴  to them, “I am the Lord your God.”

Yehezkiel 20:27

20:27 “Therefore, speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In this way too your fathers blasphemed me when they were unfaithful to me.

Yehezkiel 20:47

20:47 and say to the scrub land of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look here, ²⁵  I am about to start a fire in you, ²⁶  and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The flaming fire will not be extinguished, and the whole surface of the ground from the Negev to the north will be scorched by it.

Yehezkiel 21:24

21:24 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up ²⁷  your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force. ²⁸ 

Yehezkiel 26:16

26:16 All the princes of the sea will vacate ²⁹  their thrones. They will remove their robes and strip off their embroidered clothes; they will clothe themselves with trembling. They will sit on the ground; they will tremble continually and be shocked at what has happened to you. ³⁰ 

Yehezkiel 28:2

28:2 “Son of man, say to the prince ³¹  of Tyre, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘Your heart is proud ³²  and you said, “I am a god; ³³ 

I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas” –

yet you are a man and not a god,

though you think you are godlike. ³⁴ 

Yehezkiel 29:18

29:18 “Son of man, King Nebuchadrezzar ³⁵  of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. ³⁶  Every head was rubbed bald and every shoulder rubbed bare; yet he and his army received no wages from Tyre for the work he carried out against it.

Yehezkiel 32:10

32:10 I will shock many peoples with you,

and their kings will shiver with horror because of you.

When I brandish my sword before them,

every moment each one will tremble for his life, on the day of your fall.

Yehezkiel 33:8

33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ³⁷  and you do not warn ³⁸  the wicked about his behavior, ³⁹  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ⁴⁰ 

Yehezkiel 34:2

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ⁴¹  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

Yehezkiel 34:16

34:16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them – with judgment!

Yehezkiel 36:2

36:2 This is what the sovereign Lord says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights ⁴²  have become our property!”’

Yehezkiel 37:14

37:14 I will place my breath ⁴³  in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord – I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

Yehezkiel 40:4

40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention ⁴⁴  to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. ⁴⁵  Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”

Yehezkiel 44:5

44:5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, ⁴⁶  watch closely and listen carefully to ⁴⁷  everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances ⁴⁸  to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary.

Yehezkiel 44:13

44:13 They will not come near me to serve me as priest, nor will they come near any of my holy things, the things which are most sacred. They will bear the shame of the abominable deeds they have committed.

Yehezkiel 44:30

44:30 The first of all the first fruits and all contributions of any kind ⁴⁹  will be for the priests; you will also give to the priest the first portion of your dough, so that a blessing may rest on your house.

Yehezkiel 45:9

45:9 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and do what is just and right. Put an end to your evictions of my people, ⁵⁰  declares the sovereign Lord.

[2:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term occurs only here in the OT.

[2:6]  ² tn The Hebrew term is found elsewhere in the OT only in Ezek 28:24.

[2:6]  sn Here thorns may be a figure for hostility (Ezek 28:24; Mic 7:4).

[2:6]  ³ tn Heb “of their faces.”

[3:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “open your mouth.”

[3:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “the listener will listen, the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens – let that one listen, the one who refuses – let that one refuse.”

[5:15]  ⁶ tc This reading is supported by the versions and by the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QEzek). Most Masoretic Hebrew mss read “it will be,” but if the final he (ה) is read as a mater lectionis, as it can be with the second masculine singular perfect, then they are in agreement. In either case the subject refers to Jerusalem.

[5:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. A related verb means “revile, taunt” (see Ps 44:16).

[5:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “discipline and devastation.” These words are omitted in the Old Greek. The first term pictures Jerusalem as a recipient or example of divine discipline; the second depicts her as a desolate ruin (see Ezek 6:14).

[5:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “in anger and in fury and in rebukes of fury.” The heaping up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of God’s anger.

[6:3]  ¹⁰ tn The phrase “mountains of Israel” occurs only in the book of Ezekiel (6:2, 3; 19:9; 33:28; 34:13, 14; 35:12; 36:1, 4, 8; 37:22; 38:8; 39:2, 4, 17). The expression refers to the whole land of Israel.

[6:3]  sn The mountainous terrain of Israel would contrast with the exiles’ habitat in the river valley of Babylonia.

[6:3]  ¹¹ tn The introductory formula “Hear the word of the sovereign Lord” parallels a pronouncement delivered by the herald of a king (2 Kgs 18:28).

[6:3]  ¹² tn Heb “Look I, I am bringing.” The repetition of the pronoun draws attention to the speaker. The construction also indicates that the action is soon to come; the Lord is “about to bring a sword against” them.

[6:3]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term refers to elevated platforms where pagan sacrifices were performed.

[7:13]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows the LXX for the first line of the verse, although the LXX has lost the second line due to homoioteleuton (similar endings of the clauses). The MT reads “The seller will not return to the sale.” This Hebrew reading has been construed as a reference to land redemption, the temporary sale of the use of property, with property rights returned to the seller in the year of Jubilee. But the context has no other indicator that land redemption is in view. If correct, the LXX evidence suggests that one of the cases of “the customer” has been replaced by “the seller” in the MT, perhaps due to hoimoioarcton (similar beginnings of the words).

[7:13]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word refers to the din or noise made by a crowd, and by extension may refer to the crowd itself.

[7:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in their punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and in v. 16; 3:18, 19; 4:17; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”

[13:18]  ¹⁷ sn The wristbands mentioned here probably represented magic bands or charms. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:413.

[13:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “joints of the hands.” This may include the elbow and shoulder joints.

[13:18]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term occurs in the Bible only here and in v. 21. It has also been understood as a veil or type of head covering. D. I. Block (Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:414) suggests that given the context of magical devices, the expected parallel to the magical arm bands, and the meaning of this Hebrew root (סָפַח [safakh, “to attach” or “join”]), it may refer to headbands or necklaces on which magical amulets were worn.

[13:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “human lives” or “souls” (three times in v. 18 and twice in v. 19).

[14:9]  ²¹ tn The translation is uncertain due to difficulty both in determining the meaning of the verb’s stem and its conjugation in this context. In the Qal stem the basic meaning of the verbal root פָּתַה (patah) is “to be gullible, foolish.” The doubling stems (the Pual and Piel used in this verse) typically give such stative verbs a factitive sense, hence either “make gullible” (i.e., “entice”) or “make into a fool” (i.e., “to show to be a fool”). The latter represents the probable meaning of the term in Jer 20:7, 10 and is followed here (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:193; R. Mosis “Ez 14, 1-11 - ein Ruf zur Umkehr,” BZ 19 [1975]: 166-69 and ThWAT 4:829-31). In this view, if a prophet speaks when not prompted by God, he will be shown to be a fool, but this does not reflect negatively on the Lord because it is God who shows him to be a fool. Secondly, the verb is in the perfect conjugation and may be translated “I have made a fool of him” or “I have enticed him,” or to show determination (see IBHS 439-41 §27.2f and g), or in certain syntactical constructions as future. Any of these may be plausible if the doubling stems used are understood in the sense of “making a fool of.” But if understood as “to make gullible,” more factors come into play. As the Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, it is often translated as present perfect: “I have enticed.” In this case the Lord states that he himself enticed the prophet to cooperate with the idolaters. Such enticement to sin would seem to be a violation of God’s moral character, but sometimes he does use such deception and enticement to sin as a form of punishment against those who have blatantly violated his moral will (see, e.g., 2 Sam 24). If one follows this line of interpretation in Ezek 14:9, one would have to assume that the prophet had already turned from God in his heart. However, the context gives no indication of this. Therefore, it is better to take the perfect as indicating certitude and to translate it with the future tense: “I will entice.” In this case the Lord announces that he will judge the prophet appropriately. If a prophet allows himself to be influenced by idolaters, then the Lord will use deception as a form of punishment against that deceived prophet. A comparison with the preceding oracles also favors this view. In 14:4 the perfect of certitude is used for emphasis (see “I will answer”), though in v. 7 a participle is employed. For a fuller discussion of this text, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 23-25.

[20:5]  ²² tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[20:5]  ²³ tn Heb “seed.”

[20:5]  ²⁴ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[20:47]  ²⁵ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.

[20:47]  ²⁶ tn Fire also appears as a form of judgment in Ezek 15:4-7; 19:12, 14.

[21:24]  ²⁷ tn Heb “caused to be remembered.”

[21:24]  ²⁸ tn Heb “Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt when your transgressions are uncovered so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds – because you are remembered, by the hand you will be seized.”

[26:16]  ²⁹ tn Heb “descend from.”

[26:16]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and they will be astonished over you.”

[28:2]  ³¹ tn Or “ruler” (NIV, NCV).

[28:2]  ³² tn Heb “lifted up.”

[28:2]  sn See Prov 16:5.

[28:2]  ³³ tn Or “I am divine.”

[28:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and you made your heart (mind) like the heart (mind) of gods.”

[29:18]  ³⁵ tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an “r” rather than an “n” (so also in v. 19).

[29:18]  ³⁶ sn Nebuchadnezzar besieged Tyre from 585 to 571 b.c.

[29:18]  map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[33:8]  ³⁷ tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.

[33:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”

[33:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “way.”

[33:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”

[34:2]  ⁴¹ tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).

[36:2]  ⁴² tn Or “high places.”

[37:14]  ⁴³ tn Or “spirit.” This is likely an allusion to Gen 2 and God’s breath which creates life.

[40:4]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your mind on.”

[40:4]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “in order to show (it) to you.”

[44:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).

[44:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”

[44:5]  ⁴⁸ tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.

[44:30]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb has in addition “from your contributions,” a repetition unnecessary in English.

[45:9]  ⁵⁰ sn Evictions of the less fortunate by the powerful are described in 1 Kgs 21:1-16; Jer 22:1-5, 13-17; Ezek 22:25.