Ezekiel 20:31

20:31 When you present your sacrifices ¹  – when you make your sons pass through the fire – you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. Will I allow you to seek me, ²  O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I will not allow you to seek me! ³ 

Ezekiel 20:39

20:39 “‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Each of you go and serve your idols, ⁴  if you will not listen to me. ⁵  But my holy name will not be profaned ⁶  again by your sacrifices ⁷  and your idols.

Ezekiel 33:11

33:11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior ⁸  and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! ⁹  Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

Ezekiel 36:4

36:4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, and to the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that have become prey and an object of derision to the rest of the nations round about –

Ezekiel 36:22

36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation ¹⁰  which you profaned among the nations where you went.

Ezekiel 37:9

37:9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, ¹¹  – prophesy, son of man – and say to the breath: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’”

Ezekiel 38:16

38:16 You will advance ¹²  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ¹³  through you, O Gog.

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¹ tn Or “gifts.”

² tn Or “Will I reveal myself to you?”

³ tn Or “I will not reveal myself to you.”

⁴ sn Compare the irony here to Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25.

⁵ tn Heb “and after, if you will not listen to me.” The translation leaves out “and after” for smoothness. The text is difficult. M. Greenberg (Ezekiel [AB], 1:374) suggests that it may mean “but afterwards, if you will not listen to me…” with an unspoken threat.

⁶ sn A similar concept may be found in Lev 18:21; 20:3.

⁷ tn Or “gifts.”

⁸ tn Heb “turn from his way.”

⁹ tn Heb “ways.” This same word is translated “behavior” earlier in the verse.

¹⁰ sn In Ezek 20:22 God refrained from punishment for the sake of his holy name. Here God’s reputation is the basis for Israel’s restoration.

¹¹ tn Or “spirit,” and several times in this verse.

¹² tn Heb “come up.”

¹³ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”