Ezekiel 7:20-27
Christian Standard Bible
20 He appointed his beautiful ornaments for majesty,
but[a] they made their detestable images from them,
their abhorrent things.(A)
Therefore, I have made these
into something filthy to them.
21 I will hand these things over
to foreigners as plunder(B)
and to the wicked of the earth as spoil,
and they will profane them.
22 I will turn my face from them
as they profane my treasured place.
Violent men will enter it and profane it.
23 Forge the chain,(C)
for the land is filled with crimes of bloodshed,
and the city is filled with violence.(D)
24 So I will bring the most evil of nations(E)
to take possession of their houses.
I will put an end to the pride of the strong,
and their sacred places will be profaned.(F)
25 Anguish is coming!
They will look for peace, but there will be none.
26 Disaster after disaster will come,(G)
and there will be rumor after rumor.(H)
Then they will look for a vision from a prophet,(I)
but instruction will perish from the priests
and counsel from the elders.(J)
27 The king will mourn;
the prince will be clothed in grief;
and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their own conduct,
and I will judge them by their own standards.(K)
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Footnotes
- 7:20 Or They turned their beautiful ornaments into objects of pride, and
Ezekiel 7:20-27
New English Translation
20 They rendered the beauty of his ornaments into pride,[a] and with it they made their abominable images—their detestable idols. Therefore I will render it filthy to them. 21 I will give it to foreigners as loot, to the world’s wicked ones as plunder, and they will desecrate it. 22 I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place.[b] Vandals will enter it and desecrate it.[c] 23 (Make the chain,[d] because the land is full of murder[e] and the city is full of violence.) 24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries[f] will be desecrated. 25 Terror[g] is coming! They will seek peace, but find none. 26 Disaster after disaster will come, and one rumor after another. They will seek a vision from a prophet; priestly instruction will disappear, along with counsel from the elders. 27 The king will mourn and the prince will be clothed with shuddering; the hands of the people of the land will tremble. Based on their behavior I will deal with them, and by their standard of justice[h] I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 7:20 tc The MT reads “he set up the beauty of his ornament as pride.” The verb may be repointed as plural without changing the consonantal text. The Syriac reads “their ornaments” (plural), implying עֶדְיָם (ʿedyam) rather than עֶדְיוֹ (ʿedyo) and meaning “they were proud of their beautiful ornaments.” This understands “ornaments” in the common sense of women’s jewelry, which then was used to make idols. The singular suffix “his ornaments” would refer to using items from the temple treasury to make idols. D. I. Block points out the foreshadowing of Ezek 16:17, which, with Rashi and the Targum, supports the understanding that this is a reference to temple items. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:265.
- Ezekiel 7:22 sn My treasured place probably refers to the temple (however, cf. NLT’s “my treasured land”).
- Ezekiel 7:22 sn Since the pronouns “it” are both feminine, they do not refer to the masculine “my treasured place”; instead they probably refer to Jerusalem or the land, both of which are feminine in Hebrew.
- Ezekiel 7:23 tc The Hebrew word “the chain” occurs only here in the OT. The reading of the LXX (“and they will make carnage”) seems to imply a Hebrew text of הַבַּתּוֹק (habbattoq, “disorder, slaughter”) instead of הָרַתּוֹק (haratoq, “the chain”). The LXX is also translating the verb as a third person plural future and taking this as the end of the preceding verse. As M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:154) notes, this may refer to a chain for a train of exiles, but “the context does not speak of exile but of the city’s fall. The versions guess desperately, and we can do little better.”
- Ezekiel 7:23 tn Heb “judgment for blood,” i.e., indictment or accountability for bloodshed. The word for “judgment” does not appear in the similar phrase in 9:9.
- Ezekiel 7:24 sn Or “their holy places” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
- Ezekiel 7:25 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. It is interpreted based on a Syriac cognate meaning “to bristle or stiffen (in terror).”
- Ezekiel 7:27 tn Heb “and by their judgments.”
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