Ezekiel 20:32-33

20:32 “‘What you plan will never happen. You say, “We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone.” 20:33 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, with a powerful hand and an outstretched arm, and with an outpouring of rage, I will be king over you.

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, if you will not listen to me. But my holy name will not be profaned again by your sacrifices and your idols.


tn Heb “what comes upon your mind.”

tn The Hebrew could also read: “Let us be.”

tn Heb “serving wood and stone.”

sn This verse echoes the content of 1 Sam 8:20.

sn This phrase occurs frequently in Deuteronomy (Deut 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8).

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

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.

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

tn Or “gifts.”