Ezekiel 5:6

5:6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations ¹  and the countries around her. ²  Indeed, they ³  have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

Ezekiel 7:24

7:24 I will bring the most wicked of the nations and they will take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the arrogance of the strong, and their sanctuaries ⁴  will be desecrated.

Ezekiel 13:22

13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Ezekiel 18:21

18:21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

Ezekiel 20:44

20:44 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for the sake of my reputation and not according to your wicked conduct and corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord.’”

Ezekiel 21:3-4

21:3 and say to them, ⁵  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, ⁶  I am against you. ⁷  I will draw my sword ⁸  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁹  21:4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone ¹⁰  from the south ¹¹  to the north.

Ezekiel 21:29

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹²  –

to place that sword ¹³  on the necks of the profane wicked, ¹⁴ 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

Ezekiel 33:9

33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ¹⁵  and he refuses to change, ¹⁶  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

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¹ sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3; Jonah 1:2.

² tn Heb “she defied my laws, becoming wicked more than the nations, and [she defied] my statutes [becoming wicked] more than the countries around her.”

³ sn One might conclude that the subject of the plural verbs is the nations/countries, but the context (vv. 5-6a) indicates that the people of Jerusalem are in view. The text shifts from using the feminine singular (referring to personified Jerusalem) to the plural (referring to Jerusalem’s residents). See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:73.

⁴ sn Or “their holy places” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).

⁵ tn Heb “the land of Israel.”

⁶ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.

⁷ 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.

⁸ sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.

⁹ sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.

¹⁰ tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).

¹¹ tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.

¹² tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.

¹³ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.

¹⁵ tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”