Discovery BoxEzekiel 2:4 
Context2:4 The people 1 to whom I am sending you are obstinate and hard-hearted, 2 and you must say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says.’ 3
Ezekiel 3:11
Context3:11 Go to the exiles, to your fellow countrymen, 4 and speak to them – say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ whether they pay attention or not.”
Ezekiel 5:5
Context5:5 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem; I placed her in the center of the nations with countries all around her.
Ezekiel 5:8
Context5:8 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: I – even I – am against you, 5 and I will execute judgment 6 among you while the nations watch. 7
Ezekiel 11:21
Context11:21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, 8 says the sovereign Lord.”
Ezekiel 12:10
Context12:10 Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem, 9 and all the house of Israel within it.’ 10
Ezekiel 13:3
Context13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!
Ezekiel 13:8
Context13:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, 11 I am against you, 12 declares the sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 14:6
Context14:6 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations.
Ezekiel 16:59
Context16:59 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you according to what you have done when you despised your oath by breaking your covenant.
Ezekiel 17:19
Context17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him 13 for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!
Ezekiel 20:30
Context20:30 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers 14 and engage in prostitution with detestable idols?
Ezekiel 21:9
Context21:9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,
and also polished.
Ezekiel 21:26
Context21:26 this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Tear off the turban, 15
take off the crown!
Things must change! 16
Exalt the lowly,
bring down the proud! 17
Ezekiel 22:19
Context22:19 Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because all of you 18 have become slag, look out! – I am about to gather you in the middle of Jerusalem. 19
Ezekiel 23:46
Context23:46 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Bring up an army 20 against them and subject them 21 to terror and plunder.
Ezekiel 24:9
Context24:9 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I will also make the pile high.
Ezekiel 25:6
Context25:6 For this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because you clapped your hands, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with intense scorn 22 over the land of Israel,
Ezekiel 25:8
Context25:8 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Moab 23 and Seir say, “Look, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.”
Ezekiel 25:12
Context25:12 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Edom 24 has taken vengeance against the house of Judah; they have made themselves fully culpable 25 by taking vengeance 26 on them. 27
Ezekiel 25:15
Context25:15 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The Philistines 28 have exacted merciless revenge, 29 showing intense scorn 30 in their effort to destroy Judah 31 with unrelenting hostility. 32
Ezekiel 29:8
Context29:8 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will kill 33 every person and every animal.
Ezekiel 29:13
Context29:13 “‘For this is what the sovereign Lord says: At the end of forty years 34 I will gather Egypt from the peoples where they were scattered.
Ezekiel 30:10
Context30:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt,
by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar 35 of Babylon.
Ezekiel 31:10
Context31:10 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,
Ezekiel 34:17
Context34:17 “‘As for you, my sheep, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats.
Ezekiel 34:20
Context34:20 “‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Ezekiel 36:2
Context36:2 This is what the sovereign Lord says: The enemy has spoken against you, saying “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights 36 have become our property!”’
Ezekiel 36:13
Context36:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Because they are saying to you, “You are a devourer of men, and bereave your nation of children,”
Ezekiel 36:33
Context36:33 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: In the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will populate the cities and the ruins will be rebuilt.
Ezekiel 37:5
Context37:5 This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath 37 into you and you will live.
Ezekiel 38:3
Context38:3 and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, 38 I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
Ezekiel 38:10
Context38:10 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, 39 and you will devise an evil plan.
Ezekiel 44:6
Context44:6 Say to the rebellious, 40 to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house of Israel!
1 tn Heb “sons.” The word choice may reflect treaty idiom, where the relationship between an overlord and his subjects can be described as that of father and son.
2 tc Heb “stern of face and hard of heart.” The phrases “stern of face” and “hard of heart” are lacking in the LXX.
3 tn The phrase “thus says [the
4 tn Heb “to the sons of your people.”
5 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. The Hebrew text switches to a second feminine singular form here, indicating that personified Jerusalem is addressed (see vv. 5-6a). The address to Jerusalem continues through v. 15. In vv. 16-17 the second masculine plural is used, as the people are addressed.
6 tn The Hebrew text uses wordplay here to bring out the appropriate nature of God’s judgment. “Execute” translates the same Hebrew verb translated “carried out” (literally meaning “do”) in v. 7, while “judgment” in v. 8 and “regulations” in v. 7 translate the same Hebrew noun (meaning “regulations” or in some cases “judgments” executed on those who break laws). The point seems to be this: God would “carry out judgments” against those who refused to “carry out” his “laws.”
7 tn Heb “in the sight of the nations.”
sn This is one of the ironies of the passage. The Lord set Israel among the nations for honor and praise as they would be holy and obey God’s law as told in Ezek 5:5 and Deut 26:16-19. The practice of these laws and statutes would make the peoples consider Israel wise. (See Deut 4:5-8, where the words for laws and statutes are the same as those used here). Since Israel did not obey, they are made a different kind of object lesson to the nations, not by their obedience but in their punishment as told in Ezek 5:8 and Deut 29:24-29. Yet Deut 30 goes on to say that when they remember the cursings and blessings of the covenant and repent, God will restore them from the nations to which they have been scattered.
8 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
9 tc The nearly incoherent Hebrew reads “The prince is this burden (prophetic oracle?) in Jerusalem.” The Targum, which may only be trying to make sense of a very difficult text, says “Concerning the prince is this oracle,” assuming the addition of a preposition. This would be the only case where Ezekiel uses this term for a prophetic oracle. The LXX reads the word for “burden” as a synonym for leader, as both words are built on the same root (נָשִׂיא, nasi’), but the verse is still incoherent because it is only a phrase with no verb. The current translation assumes that the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) from the root נָשִׂיא has dropped out due to homoioteleuton. If indeed the verb has dropped out (the syntax of the verbless clause being the problem), then context clearly suggests that it be a form of נָשִׂיא (see vv. 7 and 12). Placing the verb between the subject and object would result in three consecutive words based on the root נָשִׂיא and an environment conducive to an omission in copying: הַנָּשִׂיא יִשָּׁא הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה (hannasi’ yisha’ hammasa’ hazzeh, “the Prince will raise this burden”).
sn The prince in Jerusalem refers to King Zedekiah.
map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
10 tc The MT reads “within them.” Possibly a scribe copied this form from the following verse “among them,” but only “within it” makes sense in this context.
11 tn The word h!nn@h indicates becoming aware of something and has been translated here as a verb.
12 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.
13 tn Heb “place it on his head.”
14 tn Heb “in the way of your fathers.”
15 tn Elsewhere in the Bible the turban is worn by priests (Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev 8:9; 16:4), but here a royal crown is in view.
16 tn Heb “This not this.”
17 tn Heb “the high one.”
18 tn The Hebrew second person pronoun is masculine plural here and in vv. 19b-21, indicating that the people are being addressed.
19 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
20 tn Heb “assembly.”
21 tn Heb “give them to.”
22 tn Heb “with all your scorn in (the) soul.”
23 sn Moab was located immediately south of Ammon.
24 sn Edom was located south of Moab.
25 tn Heb “and they have become guilty, becoming guilty.” The infinitive absolute following the finite verb makes the statement emphatic and draws attention to the degree of guilt incurred by Edom due to its actions.
26 tn Heb “and they have taken vengeance.”
27 sn Edom apparently in some way assisted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 587/6
28 sn The Philistines inhabited the coastal plain by the Mediterranean Sea, west of Judah.
29 tn Heb “have acted with vengeance and taken vengeance with vengeance.” The repetition emphasizes the degree of vengeance which they exhibited, presumably toward Judah.
30 tn Heb “with scorn in (the) soul.”
31 tn The object is not specified in the Hebrew text, but has been clarified as “Judah” in the translation.
32 tn Heb “to destroy (with) perpetual hostility.” Joel 3:4-8 also speaks of the Philistines taking advantage of the fall of Judah.
33 tn Heb “I will cut off from you.”
34 sn In Ezek 4:4-8 it was said that the house of Judah would suffer forty years.
35 tn Heb “Nebuchadrezzar” is a variant and more correct spelling of Nebuchadnezzar, as the Babylonian name Nabu-kudurri-usur has an “r” rather than an “n.”
36 tn Or “high places.”
37 tn Heb “I am about to bring a spirit.”
38 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.
39 tn Heb “words will go up upon your heart.”
40 tc The LXX reads “house of rebellion.”
