Ezekiel 20:25

I also gave ¹  them decrees ²  which were not good and regulations by which they could not live.

I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and laws they could not live by;

"I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live;

I gave them over to worthless customs and laws that would not lead to life.

Since they were determined to live bad lives, I myself gave them statutes that could not produce goodness and laws that did not produce life.

And further, I gave them rules which were not good and orders in which there was no life for them;

Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.

"Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;

I also gave ¹  them decrees ²  which were not good and regulations by which they could not live.

¹ tn Or “permitted.”

sn The content of the verse is shocking: that God would “give” bad decrees. This probably does not refer to the Mosaic law but to the practices of the Canaanites who were left in the land in order to test Israel. See Judg 2:20-23, the note on “decrees” in v. 25, and the note on “pass through the fire” in v. 26.

² tn The Hebrew term חֻקּוֹת (khuqot; translated “statutes” elsewhere in this chapter) is normally feminine. Here Ezekiel changes the form to masculine: חֻקִּים (khuqim). Further, they are not called “my decrees” as vv. 11 and 13 refer to “my statutes.” The change is a signal that Ezekiel is not talking about the same statutes in vv. 11 and 13, which lead to life.