Ezekiel 14

Then some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

1Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

NoteEzekiel was living among the Judeans deported to Babylon, and the "elders" are the heads of families who led that exile community. Sitting down in front of a prophet was the recognized posture of people who had come to put a formal question to God through him and wait for the answer.

2And the word of the LORD came to me. He said:

2And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

3"Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts. They have put right in front of themselves the sinful things that make them stumble. Should I let them ask me anything at all?

3Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?

Note"Son of man" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning simply "human being" or "mortal." It is God's standard form of address to Ezekiel throughout the book, marking him out as a man being spoken to, not a title of rank. (The word translated "idols" here is a contemptuous Hebrew term (gillulim) that appears to be related to a word for dung pellets; it is closer to "filthy things" than to a neutral word for images.) "Should I be enquired of" refers to the formal practice of consulting a deity through a prophet for a yes-or-no answer or a divine ruling, the way one might consult an oracle.

4So speak to them and tell them, This is what the Lord GOD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart, and puts the sinful things that make him stumble right in front of himself, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself, in a way that matches his many idols.

4Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Note"According to the multitude of his idols" is deliberately double-edged in the Hebrew: it can mean God answers in a way that exposes the man's idolatry, or that the answer he gets will be as worthless and confused as the idols themselves. The wording does not settle which.

5I will do this to take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel, because they have all turned away from me and become strangers to me through their idols.

5That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

6So say to the people of Israel, This is what the Lord GOD says: Turn back. Turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your detestable practices.

6Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Note"Repent" here translates a Hebrew verb that simply means "turn back" or "turn around" (a change of direction, pictured physically, which is why the next line speaks of turning the face away.) "Abominations" renders a word for practices treated as disgusting and out of bounds; in Ezekiel it usually points to foreign religious rites.

7For when any Israelite, or any foreigner living in Israel, cuts himself off from me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts the sinful things that make him stumble right in front of himself, and then comes to a prophet to ask about me, I the LORD will answer him myself.

7For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself:

Note"The stranger that sojourneth" is a legal category, not a casual visitor: a foreigner settled long-term in Israel, who had defined rights and was bound by many of Israel's laws. "Separateth himself" and the "estranged" of verse 5 translate the same Hebrew root, so the people's turning away and this man's are described with one word.

8I will set my face against that man. I will make him a warning sign and a saying people repeat, and I will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

8And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

Note"Set my face against" is an idiom for fixed, hostile intent, the opposite of the face turned toward someone in favor. "Cut him off from the midst of my people" is a set formula from Israel's law for removal from the community; ancient readers debated whether it meant execution, expulsion, or a death left to God. A "proverb" (Hebrew mashal) here means a byword: a name people quote as a standing example of what happens.

9And if the prophet is misled into speaking a message, it was I the LORD who misled that prophet. I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

9And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

NoteThe Hebrew verb behind "deceived" means to entice, lure, or talk someone around; it is the same word used for seducing or persuading. English "deceive" in 1611 covered this sense. Whether the prophet is presented as willingly enticed or as overpowered is left open.

10They will both carry the punishment for their sin. The punishment of the prophet will be the same as the punishment of the person who came to ask him.

10And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him;

NoteOne Hebrew word (avon) covers both a wrongdoing and the penalty it brings; "bear the punishment of their iniquity" carries both senses at once: they carry their guilt and they carry what it costs.

11This is so the people of Israel will no longer wander away from me, and will no longer make themselves filthy with all their wrongdoing. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord GOD."

11That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.

Note"Polluted" is ritual language, not moral distaste: it means rendered unfit to approach what is holy, the way physical contamination barred someone from the sanctuary. "They may be my people, and I may be their God" is a fixed formula that recurs throughout the Hebrew Bible to state the binding relationship between God and Israel, phrased much like the terms of an ancient treaty.

12The word of the LORD came to me again. He said:

12The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,

13"Son of man, suppose a land sins against me by being deeply unfaithful. Then I stretch out my hand against it, break its supply of bread, send hunger on it, and cut off both people and animals from it.

13Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

Note"Break the staff of the bread" is a Hebrew idiom: bread is pictured as the staff or walking stick that holds a person upright, so breaking it means cutting off the food supply that sustains life. Some read it more narrowly as the storage rods on which ring-shaped loaves were kept, and so as rationing.

14Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in that land, their right living would save only themselves, says the Lord GOD.

14Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.

NoteAll three men are figures from the distant past who were remembered for surviving a catastrophe that swept away everyone around them, and none of them was an Israelite of Ezekiel's own national story. "Daniel" is spelled here without a letter that the biblical book of Daniel's name carries; some take him to be that Daniel, others an ancient righteous king named Danel known from Canaanite literature for judging fairly and caring for widows and orphans. The text does not say which.

15Or suppose I send dangerous wild animals through the land, and they strip it bare, so that it is empty and no one travels through it because of the animals.

15If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:

Note"Noisome" in 1611 English meant harmful or dangerous, not foul-smelling. The Hebrew verb behind "spoil it" means to bereave of children, and is here applied to a land emptied of the people in it; "strip it bare" and "leave it childless" are both attempts at the same word.

16Then, as surely as I live, says the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. Only they themselves would be saved, and the land would be left empty.

16Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

Note"As I live" is the standard opening of a Hebrew oath, staking the speaker's own life on the truth of what follows, the most binding form of promise available.

17Or suppose I bring a sword against that land and say, "Sword, go through the land," so that I cut off both people and animals from it.

17Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:

Note"A sword" stands for war and invading armies generally, as "the sword" does throughout the Hebrew prophets; it is not a single weapon.

18Then, as surely as I live, says the Lord GOD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. Only they themselves would be saved.

18Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.

19Or suppose I send a deadly disease into that land and pour out my anger on it with bloodshed, cutting off both people and animals from it.

19Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:

Note"Pestilence" means an epidemic disease. ("Pour out my fury upon it in blood" combines two idioms: anger imagined as a liquid emptied out, and "in blood" meaning through slaughter) plague and killing together.

20Then, as surely as I live, says the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not save their own son or daughter. Their right living would save only themselves.

20Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

21For this is what the Lord GOD says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible punishments against Jerusalem, the sword, hunger, dangerous wild animals, and deadly disease, to cut off both people and animals from it!

21For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Note"Sore" in 1611 English meant severe or grievous. Sword, famine, wild beasts and plague form a fixed set of four disasters that recurs in Israel's older legal texts as the penalties attached to breaking the covenant, so a reader would have recognized the list as a formula rather than an improvised threat.

22Yet look, some will be left in it who will be brought out, both sons and daughters. They will come out to you, and you will see how they lived and what they did. Then you will be comforted about the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem, about everything I have brought on it.

22Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.

Note"A remnant" is a standard term in the prophets for the survivors left after a national disaster (those brought out alive, here as deportees joining the exiles Ezekiel is speaking to.) "Their way and their doings" means their conduct and behavior, not their journey.

23They will comfort you when you see how they lived and what they did. And you will know that I did not do all this in that city without a reason, says the Lord GOD."

23And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

Note"Without cause" translates a Hebrew word meaning for nothing, groundlessly, the same word used for a payment given free of charge or an accusation with no basis behind it.