Ezekiel 13

The word of the LORD came to me. He said:

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Note"LORD" printed in capital letters stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants usually written YHWH, which readers of the Hebrew text did not pronounce aloud. Where the text has both words together, older English versions print "Lord GOD": the first word is the ordinary Hebrew word for "master," the second is that name again.

2"Son of man, speak against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying now. Say to those who make up their messages out of their own minds, 'Listen to the word of the LORD!'

2Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;

Note"Son of man" is simply Hebrew for "human being" or "mortal." It is how God addresses Ezekiel throughout the book, over ninety times, and functions almost as a form of address, like calling someone "man" or "mortal one."

3This is what the Lord GOD says: How terrible it will be for the foolish prophets. They follow their own spirit, and they have seen nothing at all.

3Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

4Israel, your prophets are like foxes among the ruins.

4O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.

NoteThe word covers both foxes and jackals. The point of the comparison lies in the animal's habits: it scavenges, digs holes, and makes its home in collapsed rubble rather than building or guarding anything.

5You have not gone up to the broken places in the wall or repaired it for the house of Israel, so the nation could hold its ground in the battle on the day of the LORD.

5Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.

NoteAncient cities were defended by a city wall; when a section crumbled or was battered open, defenders had to physically stand in the breach and stack the stones back up. The image is of men who did not show up to do repair work. "The day of the LORD" was a fixed phrase in Israel's prophets for a coming day of decisive judgment and reckoning, pictured as a battle.

6What they see is empty, and what they tell is a lie. They say, 'This is what the LORD declares,' but the LORD did not send them. Still they expect their word to come true.

6They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

NoteDivination means trying to obtain hidden or future knowledge by set techniques, casting lots, reading omens, inspecting the liver of a sacrificed animal, interpreting dreams. It was a normal profession across the ancient Near East. The charge here is not the technique itself but that these people attach God's name to their results.

7Have you not seen an empty vision and spoken a lying prediction? You say, 'This is what the LORD declares,' when I have not spoken at all.

7Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?

8So this is what the Lord GOD says: Because you have spoken empty words and seen lies, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.

8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.

9My hand will be against the prophets who see empty visions and predict lies. They will not sit in the council of my people. Their names will not be written in the record of the house of Israel. They will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.

9And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

Note"The council" is the body of people who sit together to decide things, an inner circle of leaders and advisers, not a religious congregation. "The record of the house of Israel" is a register: an official list of citizens with their family lines, used to establish who belonged to the nation and had rights to land in it. To be struck from it was to lose legal standing as an Israelite.

10They have led my people astray by saying, 'Peace,' when there is no peace. One man builds a flimsy wall, and the others coat it with whitewash.

10Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:

NoteThe Hebrew word translated "peace" (shalom) is broader than the English word: it means safety, health, prosperity, everything being intact. The message these prophets gave was, in effect, "all is well, nothing will happen." Ordinary walls in the region were built of sun-dried mud brick and then coated with a lime or plaster wash. The coating made a shoddy wall look finished and solid, but it added no strength at all. The older English phrase "untempered morter" means plaster mixed wrong, without straw or proper binding.

11So tell those who coat it with whitewash that the wall will fall. Rain will pour down in floods, hailstones will come crashing, and a violent wind will tear the wall apart.

11Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.

NoteThis is not only a picture of divine anger; it is what actually destroyed such walls. Sun-dried mud brick had no resistance to prolonged soaking, and a badly built wall under heavy rain and wind simply slumped and dissolved, whitewash and all.

12When the wall has fallen, will people not say to you, 'Where is the coating you spread over it?'

12Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it?

13So this is what the Lord GOD says: In my fury I will send a violent wind to tear it apart. In my anger there will be flooding rain, and hailstones in my fury to finish it off.

13Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.

14I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and level it to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare. It will fall, and you will be destroyed inside it. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

14So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

15So I will pour out my anger on the wall and on those who coated it with whitewash. I will say to you, 'The wall is gone, and so are the men who coated it.'

15Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered morter, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it;

16Those men are the prophets of Israel who prophesied about Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord GOD.

16To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD.

17"Now, son of man, turn your face toward the women among your people who prophesy out of their own minds. Speak against them,

17Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them,

Note"Set your face toward" is a Hebrew gesture-phrase meaning to face someone squarely as an opponent, the posture of delivering a hostile message. "The daughters of your people" means the women of your nation.

18and say: This is what the Lord GOD says: How terrible it will be for the women who sew charms onto every wrist and make veils for the heads of people of every size, in order to trap lives. Will you trap the lives of my people and keep other lives alive for yourselves?

18And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

NoteThe Hebrew of this verse is obscure and translators do not agree on the details. The two objects appear to be bands or pads bound onto the wrists or forearms, and some kind of head covering or veil, made in different lengths to fit the client, the phrase is literally "for heads of every stature." Both seem to be ritual equipment used in a magical practice, possibly placed on the client rather than worn by the practitioner. Nothing else in the Bible describes it, so it cannot be reconstructed with confidence. The word rendered "lives" is nephesh, which means a living person, a life, a self. Older English translated it "souls," which now suggests something separate from the body; the Hebrew does not. "Hunting lives" is the vocabulary of a trapper taking game.

19You have treated me as worthless in front of my people for a few handfuls of barley and some scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to your lies, you have put to death those who should not die and kept alive those who should not live.

19And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

NoteThis names the fee. A handful of barley (the cheapest grain, ordinarily animal feed or poor people's food) and a few pieces of bread were the going rate for a consultation. The phrase measures how little was being charged for what the passage says was being sold. "Treated me as worthless" translates a word meaning to profane or make common: to take something set apart and drag it down to the level of ordinary things.

20So this is what the Lord GOD says: I am against your charms, which you use to trap people's lives as if they were birds. I will tear the charms off your arms, and I will set free the lives you have trapped like birds.

20Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

NoteThe imagery is that of a fowler, who caught birds in nets and snares and kept them alive. The Hebrew phrase behind "to make them fly" is uncertain: it may mean the trapped lives are made to fly away when released, or it may be a technical term from bird-catching whose sense is lost. The verse pictures God cutting the nets and letting the catch go.

21I will also tear off your veils and rescue my people from your hands. They will no longer be prey in your grip. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

21Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

22You have used lies to make good people lose heart, though I never brought them grief. And you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his evil way, by promising him he would live.

22Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:

23So you will see no more empty visions and practice no more fortune-telling. I will rescue my people from your hands. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

23Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.