^13:22This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life. ^13:23Therefore you will no longer see false visions and practice divination. I will rescue my people from your power, and you²⁵ will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

Well-Deserved Judgment

^14:1Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me. ^14:2The word of the Lord came to me: ^14:3“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity¹ right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek² me? ^14:4Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: When any one from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry.³^14:5I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.’

^14:6“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations. ^14:7For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally. ^14:8I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword⁴ and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

^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 of⁵ that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ^14:10They will bear their punishment;⁶ the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it⁷^14:11so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people and I will be their God,⁸ declares the sovereign Lord.’ ”

^14:12The word of the Lord came to me: ^14:13“Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply,⁹ cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals. ^14:14Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel,¹⁰ and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign Lord.

^14:15“Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals. ^14:16Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.

^14:17“Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals. ^14:18Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters—they would save only their own lives.

^14:19“Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land, and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. ^14:20Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

^14:21“For this is what the sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—to Jerusalem¹¹ to kill both people and animals! ^14:22Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem—for everything I brought on it. ^14:23They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Burning a Useless Vine

^15:1The word of the Lord came to me: ^15:2“Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine?¹^15:3Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ^15:4No!² It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? ^15:5Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

^15:6“Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest which I have provided as fuel for the fire—so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem³ as fuel.⁴^15:7I will set⁵ my face against them—although they have escaped from the fire,⁶ the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. ^15:8I will make⁷ the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”

God’s Unfaithful Bride

^16:1The word of the Lord came to me: ^16:2“Son of man, confront Jerusalem¹ with her abominable practices ^16:3and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. ^16:4As for your birth, on the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water;² you were certainly not rubbed down with salt, nor wrapped with blankets.³^16:5No eye took pity on you to do even one of these things for you to spare you;⁴ you were thrown out into the open field⁵ because you were detested on the day you were born.

^16:6“ ‘I passed by you and saw you kicking around helplessly in your blood. I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!” I said to you as you lay there in your blood, “Live!”⁶^16:7I made you plentiful like sprouts in a field; you grew tall and came of age so that you could wear jewelry. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, but you were still naked and bare.

^16:8“ ‘Then I passed by you and watched you, noticing⁷ that you had reached the age for love.⁸ I spread my cloak⁹ over you and covered your nakedness. I swore a solemn oath to you and entered into a marriage covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

^16:9“ ‘Then I bathed you in water, washed the blood off you, and anointed you with fragrant oil. ^16:10I dressed you in embroidered clothing and put fine leather sandals on your feet. I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. ^16:11I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. ^16:12I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. ^16:13You were adorned with gold and silver, while your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate the finest flour, honey, and olive oil. You became extremely beautiful and attained the position of royalty. ^16:14Your fame¹⁰ spread among the nations because of your beauty; your beauty was perfect because of the splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the sovereign Lord.¹¹

^16:15“ ‘But you trusted in your beauty and capitalized on your fame by becoming a prostitute. You offered your sexual favors to every man who passed by so that your beauty¹² became his. ^16:16You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his.¹³^16:17You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution¹⁴ with them. ^16:18You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. ^16:19As for my food that I gave you—the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you—you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the sovereign Lord.

^16:20“ ‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them¹⁵ as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution not enough, ^16:21you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.¹⁶^16:22And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.

^16:23“ ‘After all of your evil—“Woe! Woe to you!” declares the sovereign Lord—^16:24you built yourself a chamber¹⁷ and put up a pavilion¹⁸ in every public square. ^16:25At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced¹⁹ your beauty when you spread²⁰ your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity. ^16:26You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your sexually aroused neighbors,²¹ multiplying your promiscuity and provoking me to anger. ^16:27So see here, I have stretched out my hand against you and cut off your rations. I have delivered you into the power of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed by your obscene conduct. ^16:28You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians because your sexual desires were insatiable; you prostituted yourself with them and yet you were still not satisfied. ^16:29Then you multiplied your promiscuity to the land of merchants, Babylonia,²² but you were not satisfied there either.

^16:…

Read in Logos

Ezekiel 17:24: “And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

This passage has been shortened. Keep reading Ezekiel 13:22–28:26 in Logos

Footnotes

25 The Hebrew verb is feminine plural, indicating that it is the false prophetesses who are addressed here.
1 Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
2 Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).
3 Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”
4 Heb “proverbs.”
5 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 [], 1:; R. Mosis “Ez 14, 1–11—ein Ruf zur Umkehr,” 19 [1975]: 166–69 and 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 §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?” 155 (1998): .
6 Or “They will bear responsibility for their iniquity.” The Hebrew term “iniquity” (three times in this verse) often refers by metonymy to the consequence of sin (see Gen 4:13).
7 Or “As is the guilt of the inquirer so is the guilt of the prophet.”
8 I will be their God. See Exod 6:7; Lev 26:12; Jer 7:23; 11:4.
9 Heb “break its staff of bread.”
10 Traditionally this has been understood as a reference to the biblical Daniel, though he was still quite young when Ezekiel prophesied. One wonders if he had developed a reputation as an intercessor by this point. For this reason some prefer to see a reference to a ruler named Danel, known in Canaanite legend for his justice and wisdom. In this case all three of the individuals named would be non-Israelites, however the Ugaritic Danel is not known to have qualities of faith in the Lord that would place him in the company of the other men. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 1:.
11 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
1 Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense. Comparing Israel to the wood of the vine may focus on Israel’s inferiority to the other nations. For the vine imagery in relation to Israel and the people of God, see Ps 80:8–13; John 15:1–7; Rom 11:17–22.
2 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).
3 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
4 The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.
5 The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.
6 This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10–16).
7 The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.
1 For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
2 Heb “in water you were not washed for cleansing” or “with water you were not washed smooth” (see D. I. Block, Ezekiel [], 1:, n. 57, for a discussion of possible meanings of this ).
3 Arab midwives still cut the umbilical cords of infants and then proceed to apply salt and oil to their bodies.
4 These verbs, “pity” and “spare,” echo the judgment oracles in 5:11; 7:4, 9; 8:18; 9:5, 10.
5 A similar concept is found in Deut 32:10.
6 The translation reflects the Hebrew text, which repeats the statement, perhaps for emphasis. However, a few medieval Hebrew manuscripts, the Old Greek, and the do not include the repetition. The statement could have been accidentally repeated or the second occurrence could have been accidentally omitted. Based on the available evidence it is difficult to know which is more likely.
7 The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a participle.
8 See similar use of this term in Ezek 23:17; Prov 7:16; Song of Songs 4:10; 7:13.
9 Heb “wing” or “skirt.” The gesture symbolized acquiring a woman in early Arabia (similarly, see Deut 22:30; Ruth 3:9).
10 Heb “name.”
11 The description of the nation Israel in vv. 10–14 recalls the splendor of the nation’s golden age under King Solomon.
12 Heb “it” (so , ); the referent (the beauty in which the prostitute trusted, see the beginning of the verse) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 The text as written in the is incomprehensible (“not coming [plural] and he will not”). Driver has suggested a copying error of similar-sounding words, specifically לֹא (lo’) for לוֹ (lo). The feminine participle בָאוֹת (va’ot) has also been read as the feminine perfect בָאת (va’t). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (), 1:, n. 15.b, and D. I. Block, Ezekiel (), 1:, n. 137.
14 Or perhaps “and worshiped them,” if the word “prostitution” is understood in a figurative rather than a literal sense (cf. , ).
15 The sacrifice of children was prohibited in Lev 18:21; 20:2; Deut 12:31; 18:10.
16 Heb “and you gave them, by passing them through to them.” Some believe this alludes to the pagan practice of making children pass through the fire.
17 The Hebrew גֶּב (gev) may represent more than one word, each rare in the Old Testament. It may refer to a “mound” or to “rafters.” The , , and interpret this as a brothel.
18 Or “lofty place” (). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (), 1:, and B. Lang, Frau Weisheit, 137.
19 Heb “treated as if abominable,” i.e., repudiated.
20 The only other occurrence of the Hebrew root is found in Prov 13:3 in reference to the talkative person who habitually “opens wide” his lips.
21 Heb “your neighbors, large of flesh.” The word “flesh” is used here of the genitals. It may simply refer to the size of their genitals in general, or, as the translation suggests, depicts them as sexually aroused.
22 Heb “Chaldea.” The name of the tribal group ruling Babylon (“Chaldeans”) and the territory from which they originated (“Chaldea”) is used as metonymy for the whole empire of Babylon.