Ezekiel 35
New English Translation
Prophecy Against Mount Seir
35 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[a] Mount Seir,[b] and prophesy against it. 3 Say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Look, I am against you, Mount Seir;
I will stretch out my hand against you
and turn you into a desolate ruin.
4 I will lay waste your cities,
and you will become desolate.
Then you will know that I am the Lord!
5 “‘You have shown unrelenting hostility and poured the people of Israel onto the blades of a sword[c] at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment. 6 Therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate ruin;[d] I will cut off[e] from it the one who passes through or returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its dead; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines, those killed by the sword will fall. 9 I will turn you into a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 “‘You said, “These two nations, these two lands[f] will be mine, and we will possess them,”[g] (although the Lord was there); 11 therefore, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will deal with you according to your anger and your envy, by which you acted spitefully against them. I will reveal myself to them when I judge you. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the insults you spoke against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are desolate; they have been given to us for food.” 13 You exalted yourselves against me with your speech[h] and hurled many insults against me[i]—I have heard them all! 14 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you—you will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom—all of it! Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 35:2 tn Heb “set your face against.”
- Ezekiel 35:2 sn Mount Seir is to be identified with Edom (Ezek 35:15), home of Esau’s descendants (Gen 25:21-30).
- Ezekiel 35:5 tn Or “gave over…to the power of the sword.” This phrase also occurs in Jer 18:21 and Ps 63:10.
- Ezekiel 35:7 tc The translation reads with some manuscripts לְשִׁמְמָה וּמְשַׁמָּה (leshimemah umeshammah, “desolate ruin”) as in verse 3 and often in Ezekiel. The majority reading reverses the first mem (מ) with the shin (שׁ), resulting in the repetition of the word desolate: לְשִׁמְמָה וּשְׁמָמָה (leshimemah ushemamah).
- Ezekiel 35:7 tn Or “kill.”
- Ezekiel 35:10 sn The reference is to Israel and Judah.
- Ezekiel 35:10 tn Heb “it.”
- Ezekiel 35:13 tn Heb “your mouth.”
- Ezekiel 35:13 tn Heb “and you multiplied against me your words.” The Hebrew verb occurs only here and in Prov 27:6, where it refers to the “excessive” kisses of an enemy. The basic idea of the verb appears to be “to be abundant.” Here it occurs in the causative (Hiphil) stem.
Ezekiel 35
International Standard Version
Prophecy against Mount Seir
35 A message came to me from the Lord and it went like this: 2 “Son of Man, turn your attention[a] toward Mount Seir[b] and begin to prophesy against it. 3 Tell them,[c] ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Watch out! I’m coming to get you, Mount Seir!
I’m stretching out my hand to strike you,
and I’m going to turn you into a desolate wasteland.
4 I’m going to turn your cities into ghost towns,
and you will become a ruin.
Then you will learn
that I am the Lord.
5 “Because of your undying hatred, you kept on making the Israelis experience abuse[d] during the time of their calamity, even when they were in their final stages[e] of punishment, 6 therefore as I’m alive and living,” declares the Lord God, “I’m turning you over to bloodshed,[f] and bloodshed will certainly overtake you, since you never have hated shedding blood. That’s why bloodshed will certainly pursue you. 7 I’m turning Mount Seir over to ruin and desolation. I’m going to eliminate everyone who comes and goes, 8 and I’ll fill that[g] mountain with the dead. Those who die by violence[h] will cover your hills, and fill your valleys and all your ravines! 9 I will turn you into an everlasting wasteland, and your cities will never be inhabited. Then you’ll learn that I am the Lord!
10 “Because you have claimed, ‘These two nations and these two lands are going to belong to me, and we will take possession of them, even though the Lord is there,’ 11 therefore as I’m alive and living” declares the Lord God, “I’m going to deal with you as your anger deserves. When I judge you, I’ll treat you like you did the Israelis[i]—that is, with the same kind of envy that motivated your constant hatred of them. 12 That’s how you’ll know that I, the Lord, have heard every loathsome, reviling thing that you’ve had to say against the mountains of Israel, such as, ‘They’re desolate, and we’ll eat them for dinner!’ 13 Not only that, you’ve arrogantly reviled me many times over, and I’ve heard every word!
14 “So this is what the Lord God says: ‘Just as the earth rejoices, I’m going to turn you into a desolate wasteland. 15 Just as you rejoiced when Israel’s inheritance became desolate, I’m going to do the same thing to you. Mount Seir, you and Edom—all of you—will become a desolate wasteland.’ Then they will learn that I am the Lord.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 35:2 Lit. face
- Ezekiel 35:2 This mountain, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located in the mountain range that extends south of the Dead Sea toward the Gulf of Aqaba, and is bordered by the Arabah Valley to the west.
- Ezekiel 35:3 Lit. him; i.e. the city personified as a single person
- Ezekiel 35:5 Lit. to the hand of the sword
- Ezekiel 35:5 Lit. time
- Ezekiel 35:6 The Heb. word blood sounds like Edom, the territory south of the Dead Sea in which Mt. Seir, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located
- Ezekiel 35:8 Lit. his
- Ezekiel 35:8 Lit. by the sword
- Ezekiel 35:11 Lit. did them
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