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Ezekiel 14:1–5

Idolatry Will Be Punished

14 Now asome of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them bthat which causes them to stumble into iniquity. cShould I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?

“Therefore speak to them, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by their idols.” ’

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Ezekiel 14:1–5 — The New International Version (NIV)

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — English Standard Version (ESV)

Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son 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 inquired of at all by them? Therefore 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; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Then some of the leaders of Israel visited me, and while they were sitting with me, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the Lord, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves. I will do this to capture the minds and hearts of all my people who have turned from me to worship their detestable idols.’

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — New Century Version (NCV)

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the Lord spoke his word to me, saying: “Human, these people want to worship idols. They put up evil things that cause people to sin. Should I allow them to ask me for help? So speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: When any of the people of Israel want to worship idols and put up evil things that cause people to sin and then come to the prophet, I, the Lord, will answer them myself for worshiping idols. Then I will win back my people Israel, who have left me because of all their idols.’

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — American Standard Version (ASV)

Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I Jehovah will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols; that I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And there came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I Jehovah will answer him according to this, according to the multitude of his idols: that I may take the house of Israel by their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Some of Israel’s leaders came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, these people are devoted to their idols, and they are allowing themselves to fall into sin. Should they be allowed to ask me for help? 

“So speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Suppose an Israelite is devoted to idols and allows himself to fall into sin. Suppose he goes to a prophet ⸤to ask for my help⸥. I, the Lord, will give that Israelite an answer, the answer that his many idols deserve. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the nation of Israel. They have deserted me because of their disgusting idols.’ 

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and have put sinful stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I be consulted by them at all?

“Therefore, speak to them and tell them: This is what the Lord God says: When anyone from the house of Israel sets up idols in his heart, puts a sinful stumbling block before his face, and then comes to the prophet, I, Yahweh, will answer him appropriately. I will answer him according to his many idols, so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their hearts. They are all estranged from Me because of their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them; shall I let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak to them, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before them, and yet come to the prophet—I the Lord will answer those who come with the multitude of their idols, in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat before me. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, these men took up their idols into their heart and they placed before themselves a stumbling block of their guilt. Should I really let myself be consulted by them? Therefore speak with them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every person from the house of Israel who brings up his idols into his heart and places before himself a stumbling block of his guilt and yet he comes to the prophet, I Yahweh, I will respond to him through this act with respect to the multitude of his idols, so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from me, all of them, through their idols.’

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Some of the elders of Israel came to see me. They sat down with me. Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said, “Son of man, these men have thought about nothing but other gods. They have fallen into the evil trap of worshiping them. Should I let those men ask me for any advice?

“Speak to them. Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “Suppose an Israelite thinks about other gods. And he falls into the evil trap of worshiping them. Then he goes to a prophet to ask for advice. If he does, I myself will tell the prophet to answer him in keeping with his worship of many gods. I will win back the hearts of the people of Israel. All of them have deserted me for their other gods.” ’

Ezekiel 14:1–5 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?

Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols,

in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols.” ’


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