Ezekiel 20:3
20:3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Are you coming to seek me? As surely as I live, I will not allow you to seek me, 1 declares the sovereign Lord.’
Ezekiel 29:3
29:3 Tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Look, I am against 2 you, Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great monster 3 lying in the midst of its waterways,
who has said, “My Nile is my own, I made it for myself.” 4
Ezekiel 37:19
37:19 tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, 5 and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ 6
Ezekiel 39:17
39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter 7 which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.
Ezekiel 40:4
40:4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch closely, listen carefully, and pay attention 8 to everything I show you, for you have been brought here so that I can show it to you. 9 Tell the house of Israel everything you see.”
Ezekiel 44:5
44:5 The Lord said to me: “Son of man, pay attention, 10 watch closely and listen carefully to 11 everything I tell you concerning all the statutes of the Lord’s house and all its laws. Pay attention to the entrances 12 to the temple with all the exits of the sanctuary.
1 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”
2 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
3 tn Heb “jackals,” but many medieval Hebrew mss read correctly “the serpent.” The Hebrew term appears to refer to a serpent in Exod 7:9-10, 12; Deut 32:33; and Ps 91:13. It also refers to large creatures that inhabit the sea (Gen 1:21; Ps 148:7). In several passages it is associated with the sea or with the multiheaded sea monster Leviathan (Job 7:12; Ps 74:13; Isa 27:1; 51:9). Because of the Egyptian setting of this prophecy and the reference to the creature’s scales (v. 4), many understand a crocodile to be the referent here (e.g., NCV “a great crocodile”; TEV “you monster crocodile”; CEV “a giant crocodile”).
4 sn In Egyptian theology Pharaoh owned and controlled the Nile. See J. D. Currid, Ancient Egypt and the Old Testament, 240-44.
5 tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”
6 sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.
7 tn Or “sacrifice” (so also in the rest of this verse).
8 tn Heb “look with your eyes, hear with your ears, and set your mind on.”
9 tn Heb “in order to show (it) to you.”
10 tn Heb “set your heart” (so also in the latter part of the verse).
11 tn Heb “Set your mind, look with your eyes, and with your ears hear.”
12 tc The Syriac, Vulgate, and Targum read the plural. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:618.