Ezekiel 19:1-20:29

English Standard Version

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

19 And you, ^(A)take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²and say:

What was your mother? ^(B)A lioness!
    Among lions she crouched;
in the midst of young lions
    she reared her cubs.
³And she brought up one of her cubs;
    ^(C)he became a young lion,
^(D)and he learned to catch prey;
    he devoured men.
⁴The nations heard about him;
    ^(E)he was caught in their pit,
^(F)and they brought him with hooks
    to the land of Egypt.
⁵When she saw that she waited in vain,
    that her hope was lost,
^(G)she took another of her cubs
    and made him a young lion.
⁶He prowled among the lions;
    he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
    he devoured men,
⁷and seized^[a] their widows.
    He laid waste their cities,
and the land was appalled and all who were in it
    at the sound of his roaring.
⁸^(H)Then the nations set against him
    from provinces on every side;
^(I)they spread their net over him;
    ^(J)he was taken in their pit.
⁹With hooks ^(K)they put him in a cage^[b]
    and ^(L)brought him to the king of Babylon;
    they brought him into custody,
that his voice should no more be heard
    on ^(M)the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Your mother was ^(N)like a vine in a vineyard^[c]
    planted by the water,
^(O)fruitful and full of branches
    ^(P)by reason of abundant water.
¹¹Its strong stems became
    rulers' scepters;
it towered aloft
    among the thick boughs;^[d]
it was seen in its height
    with the mass of its branches.
¹²But the vine was plucked up in fury,
    cast down to the ground;
^(Q)the east wind dried up its fruit;
    they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
    fire consumed it.
¹³^(R)Now it is planted in the wilderness,
    in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴^(S)And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,
    has consumed its fruit,
^(T)so that there remains in it no strong stem,
    no scepter for ruling.

This is ^(U)a lamentation and has become a lamentation.

Israel's Continuing Rebellion

20 ^(V)In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of ^(W)the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, ^(X)and sat before me. ²And the word of the Lord came to me: ³^(Y)“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to inquire of me that you come? ^(Z)As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(AA)I will not be inquired of by you. ⁴^(AB)Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? ^(AC)Let them know the abominations of their fathers, ⁵and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AD)On the day when I chose Israel, ^(AE)I swore^[e] to the offspring of the house of Jacob, ^(AF)making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; ^(AG)I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. ⁶On that day I swore to them that ^(AH)I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^(AI)flowing with milk and honey, ^(AJ)the most glorious of all lands. ⁷And I said to them, ^(AK)‘Cast away the detestable things ^(AL)your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^(AM)the idols of Egypt; ^(AN)I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸^(AO)But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^(AP)None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^(AQ)and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹^(AR)But I acted ^(AS)for the sake of my name, ^(AT)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^(AU)in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁰^(AV)So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹^(AW)I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^(AX)by which, if a person does them, he shall live. ¹²Moreover, I gave them ^(AY)my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^(AZ)that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ¹³^(BA)But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^(BB)They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^(BC)and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^(BD)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^(BE)in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵Moreover, ^(BF)I swore to them in the wilderness ^(BG)that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land ^(BH)flowing with milk and honey, ^(BI)the most glorious of all lands, ¹⁶because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; ^(BJ)for their heart went after their idols. ¹⁷Nevertheless, ^(BK)my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or ^(BL)make a full end of them in the wilderness.

¹⁸“And I said to ^(BM)their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk ^(BN)in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, ^(BO)nor defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹^(BP)I am the Lord your God; ^(BQ)walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, ²⁰and ^(BR)keep my Sabbaths holy that ^(BS)they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.’ ²¹^(BT)But the children ^(BU)rebelled against me. ^(BV)They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.

^(BW)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. ²²^(BX)But I withheld my hand ^(BY)and acted for the sake of my name, ^(BZ)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. ²³^(CA)Moreover, ^(CB)I swore to them in the wilderness ^(CC)that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, ²⁴because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, ^(CD)and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. ²⁵^(CE)Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, ²⁶and I defiled them through ^(CF)their very gifts ^(CG)in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it ^(CH)that they might know that I am the Lord.

²⁷“Therefore, ^(CI)son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In this also your fathers blasphemed me, by ^(CJ)dealing treacherously with me. ²⁸For when I had brought them into the land that ^(CK)I swore to give them, then wherever they saw ^(CL)any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented ^(CM)the provocation of their offering; there they sent up their pleasing aromas, and there they poured out their drink offerings. ²⁹(I said to them, ^(CN)‘What is the high place to which you go?’ So its name is called Bamah^[f] to this day.)

Footnotes

Ezekiel 19:7 Hebrew knew
Ezekiel 19:9 Or in a wooden collar
Ezekiel 19:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood
Ezekiel 19:11 Or the clouds
Ezekiel 20:5 Hebrew I lifted my hand; twice in this verse; also verses 6, 15, 23, 28, 42
Ezekiel 20:29 Bamah means high place