Ezekiel 20:33–44

God Punishes and Forgives

³³“As surely as I, the Sovereign Lord, am the living God, I warn you that in my anger I will rule over you with a strong hand, with all my power. ³⁴I will show you my power and my anger when I gather you together and bring you back from all the countries where you have been scattered. ³⁵I will bring you into the ‘Desert of the Nations’, and there I will condemn you to your face. ³⁶I will now condemn you just as I condemned your ancestors in the Sinai Desert,” says the Sovereign Lord.

³⁷“I will take firm control of you and make you obey my covenant. ³⁸I will take away from among you those who are rebellious and sinful. I will take them out of the lands where they are living now, but I will not let them return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”

³⁹The Sovereign Lord said, “And now, all you Israelites, please yourselves! Go on and serve your idols! But I warn you that after this you will have to obey me and stop dishonouring my holy name by offering gifts to your idols. ⁴⁰There in the land, on my holy mountain,^o the high mountain of Israel, all you people of Israel will worship me. I will be pleased with you and will expect you to bring me your sacrifices, your best offerings, and your holy gifts. ⁴¹After I bring you out of the countries where you have been scattered and gather you together, I will accept the sacrifices that you burn, and the nations will see that I am holy. ⁴²When I bring you back to Israel, the land that I promised I would give to your ancestors, then you will know that I am the Lord. ⁴³Then you will remember all the disgraceful things you did and how you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil things you did. ⁴⁴When I act to protect my honour, you Israelites will know that I am the Lord, because I do not deal with you as your wicked, evil actions deserve.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.