30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Are you defiling yourselves the way your ancestors did,(A) and prostituting yourselves with their abhorrent things? 31 When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your children in the fire,[a](B) you still continue to defile yourselves with all your idols today. So should I let you inquire of me, house of Israel? As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—I will not let you inquire of me!

Israel’s Restoration

32 “‘When you say, “Let’s be like the nations, like the clans of other countries, serving wood and stone,”(C) what you have in mind will never happen.(D) 33 As I live—the declaration of the Lord God—I will reign over you with a strong hand, an outstretched arm,(E) and outpoured wrath. 34 I will bring you from the peoples and gather you from the countries where you were scattered,(F) with a strong hand, an outstretched arm,(G) and outpoured wrath. 35 I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples(H) and enter into judgment with you there face to face. 36 Just as I entered into judgment with your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt,(I) so I will enter into judgment with you. This is the declaration of the Lord God. 37 I will make you pass under the rod(J) and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against me.(K) I will bring them out of the land where they live as foreign residents, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. 20:31 Lit gifts, making your children pass through the fire

30 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Will you defile yourselves in the way of your (A)fathers and adulterously pursue their detestable things? 31 And [a]when you offer your gifts, when you (B)make your sons pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “I certainly will not be inquired of by you. 32 And whatever (C)comes [b]into your mind certainly will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, (D)serving wood and stone.’

God Will Restore Israel to Her Land

33 “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “with a mighty hand and with an (E)outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I assuredly shall be (F)king over you. 34 I will (G)bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered, with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with (H)wrath poured out; 35 and I will bring you into the (I)wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36 Just as I (J)entered into judgment with your fathers in the (K)wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you,” declares the Lord God. 37 “I will make you (L)pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 and I will (M)purge from you the rebels and those who revolt against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside, but they will (N)not enter the [c]land of Israel. So you will know that I am the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 20:31 Lit in your lifting up
  2. Ezekiel 20:32 Lit upon your spirit
  3. Ezekiel 20:38 Lit ground; or soil