Add parallel Print Page Options

Condemnation of Israel’s Idolatrous Elders

14 And men from the elders of Israel came to me, and they sat before me.[a] And the word of Yahweh came[b] to me, saying,[c] “Son of man,[d] these men took up their idols into their heart and they placed before themselves[e] a stumbling block of their guilt.[f] Should I really let myself be consulted by them?[g] Therefore speak with them, and you must say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Every person from the house of Israel who brings up his idols into his heart and places before himself[h] a stumbling block of his guilt[i] and yet he comes to the prophet, I Yahweh, I will respond to him through this act[j] with respect to the multitude[k] of his idols, so that I may take hold of the house of Israel by their heart, those who are estranged from me, all of them, through their idols.’

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 14:1 Literally “to the face of me”
  2. Ezekiel 14:2 Literally “was”
  3. Ezekiel 14:2 Literally “to say”
  4. Ezekiel 14:3 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  5. Ezekiel 14:3 Literally “they gave before their faces”
  6. Ezekiel 14:3 Or “iniquity”
  7. Ezekiel 14:3 Literally “Surely I will let me be consulted by them?”
  8. Ezekiel 14:4 Literally “they gave before their faces”
  9. Ezekiel 14:4 Or “iniquity”
  10. Ezekiel 14:4 Hebrew “it”
  11. Ezekiel 14:4 According to the Kethib; the Qere reads “I will respond to him, he who comes with the multitude of his idols”

Well-Deserved Judgment

14 Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me. The Lord’s message came to me: “Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity[a] right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek[b] me? Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When anyone 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.[c] I 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.’

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 14:3 tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
  2. Ezekiel 14:3 tn 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. Ezekiel 14:4 tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”