Ezekiel 25:3-9

25:3 Say to the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the sovereign Lord: This is what the sovereign Lord says: You said “Aha!” about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and about the house of Judah when they went into exile. 25:4 So take note, ¹  I am about to make you slaves of ²  the tribes ³  of the east. They will make camps among you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit and drink your milk. 25:5 I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon ⁴  a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 25:6 For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn ⁵  over the land of Israel, 25:7 take note, I have stretched out my hand against you, and I will hand you over as plunder ⁶  to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and make you perish from the lands. I will destroy you; then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

A Prophecy Against Moab

25:8 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Moab ⁷  and Seir say, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.” 25:9 So look, I am about to open up Moab’s flank, ⁸  eliminating the cities, ⁹  including its frontier cities, ¹⁰  the beauty of the land – Beth Jeshimoth, Baal Meon, and Kiriathaim.

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¹ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something and has been translated here with a verb (so also throughout the chapter).

² tn Heb “Look I am about to give you for a possession to.”

³ tn Heb “sons.”

⁴ tn Heb “the sons of Ammon.”

⁵ tn Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”

⁶ tc The translation here follows the marginal reading (Qere) of the Hebrew text. The consonantal text (Kethib) is meaningless.

⁷ sn Moab was located immediately south of Ammon.

⁸ tn Heb “shoulder.”

⁹ tn Heb “from the cities.” The verb “eliminating” has been added in the translation to reflect the privative use of the preposition (see BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b).

¹⁰ tn Heb “from its cities, from its end.”