Posted on by Powered by Bible Gateway

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday November 2, 2024 (NIV)

Ezekiel 3:16-6:14

16 At the end of seven days the Lord’s message came to me: 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman[a] for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’[b] and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity,[c] but I will hold you accountable for his death.[d] 19 But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.[e]

20 “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle[f] before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 21 However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he[g] does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Isolated and Silenced

22 The hand[h] of the Lord rested on me there, and he said to me, “Get up, go out to the valley,[i] and I will speak with you there.” 23 So I got up and went out to the valley, and the glory of the Lord was standing there, just like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River,[j] and I threw myself face down.

24 Then a wind[k] came into me and stood me on my feet. The Lord[l] spoke to me and said, “Go shut yourself in your house. 25 As for you, son of man, they will put ropes on you and tie you up with them, so you cannot go out among them. 26 I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to reprove[m] them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will loosen your tongue[n] and you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ Those who listen will listen, but the indifferent will refuse,[o] for they are a rebellious house.

Ominous Object Lessons

4 “And you, son of man, take a brick[p] and set it in front of you. Inscribe[q] a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp[r] against it! Post soldiers outside it[s] and station battering rams around it. 3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan[t] and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign[u] for the house of Israel.

4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity[v] of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days[w] for you—390 days.[x] So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.[y]

6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days[z]—I have assigned one day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 8 Look here: I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.[aa]

9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,[ab] put them in a single container, and make food[ac] from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side—390 days[ad]—you will eat it. 10 The food you eat will be eight ounces[ae] a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.[af] 11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;[ag] you must drink it at fixed times. 12 And you must eat the food as you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”[ah] 13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations[ai] where I will banish them.”

14 And I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat[aj] has never entered my mouth.”

15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”

16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply[ak] in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.[al]

5 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor.[am] Shave off some of the hair from your head and your beard.[an] Then take scales and divide up the hair you cut off. 2 Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them. 3 But take a few strands of hair[ao] from those and tie them in the ends of your garment.[ap] 4 Again, take more of them and throw them into the fire,[aq] and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the house of Israel.

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. 6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations[ar] and the countries around her.[as] Indeed, they[at] have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.

7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you are more arrogant[au] than the nations around you,[av] you have not followed my statutes and have not carried out my regulations. You have not even[aw] carried out the regulations of the nations around you!

8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I—even I—am against you,[ax] and I will execute judgment[ay] among you while the nations watch.[az] 9 I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again because of all your abominable practices.[ba] 10 Therefore, fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem,[bb] and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors[bc] to the winds.[bd]

11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare[be] you. 12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you.[bf] A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you,[bg] and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 13 Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased.[bh] Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy[bi] when I have fully vented my rage against them.

14 “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 You will be[bj] an object of scorn and taunting,[bk] a prime example of destruction[bl] among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury.[bm] I, the Lord, have spoken! 16 I will shoot against them deadly,[bn] destructive[bo] arrows of famine,[bp] which I will shoot to destroy you.[bq] I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply.[br] 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will take your children from you.[bs] Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you,[bt] and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Judgment on the Mountains of Israel

6 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[bu] the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 3 Say, ‘Mountains of Israel,[bv] hear the word of the Sovereign Lord![bw] This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing[bx] a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.[by] 4 Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols.[bz] 5 I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols,[ca] and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out.[cb] 7 The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord.[cc]

8 “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands.[cd] 9 Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize[ce] how I was crushed by their unfaithful[cf] heart that turned from me and by their eyes that lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves[cg] because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices. 10 They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.[ch]

11 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, “Ah!” because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence.[ci] 12 The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these[cj] will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak[ck]—the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand against them[cl] and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah,[cm] in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

Footnotes:

  1. Ezekiel 3:17 tn The literal role of a watchman is described in 2 Sam 18:24 and 2 Kgs 9:17.
  2. Ezekiel 3:18 sn Even though the infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the warning, the warning is still implicitly conditional, as the following context makes clear.
  3. Ezekiel 3:18 tn Or “in his punishment.” The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here and v. 19; 4:17; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
  4. Ezekiel 3:18 tn Heb “his blood I will seek from your hand.” The expression “seek blood from the hand” is equivalent to requiring the death penalty (2 Sam 4:11-12).
  5. Ezekiel 3:19 tn Verses 17-19 are repeated in Ezek 33:7-9.
  6. Ezekiel 3:20 tn Or “stumbling block.” The Hebrew term refers to an obstacle in the road in Lev 19:14.
  7. Ezekiel 3:21 tn Heb “the righteous man.”
  8. Ezekiel 3:22 tn Or “power.” sn Hand in the OT can refer metaphorically to power, authority, or influence. In Ezekiel God’s hand being on the prophet is regularly associated with communication or a vision from God (1:3; 3:14, 22; 8:1; 37:1; 40:1).
  9. Ezekiel 3:22 sn Ezekiel had another vision at this location, recounted in Ezek 37.
  10. Ezekiel 3:23 tn Or “canal.”
  11. Ezekiel 3:24 tn See the note on “wind” in 2:2.
  12. Ezekiel 3:24 tn Heb “he.”
  13. Ezekiel 3:26 tn Heb “you will not be to them a reprover.” In Isa 29:21 and Amos 5:10 “a reprover” issued rebuke at the city gate.
  14. Ezekiel 3:27 tn Heb “open your mouth.”
  15. Ezekiel 3:27 tn Heb “the listener will listen, and the refuser will refuse.” Because the word for listening can also mean obeying, the nuance may be that the obedient will listen, or that the one who listens will obey. Also, although the verbs are not jussive as pointed in the MT, some translate them with a volitive sense: “the one who listens—let that one listen, the one who refuses—let that one refuse.”
  16. Ezekiel 4:1 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13½ inches wide.
  17. Ezekiel 4:1 tn Or perhaps “draw.”
  18. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Or “a barricade.”
  19. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
  20. Ezekiel 4:3 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
  21. Ezekiel 4:3 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
  22. Ezekiel 4:4 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
  23. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.
  24. Ezekiel 4:5 tc The LXX reads “190 days.” sn The significance of the number 390 is not clear. The best explanation is that “days” are used figuratively for years and the number refers to the years of the sinfulness of Israel during the period of the First Temple. Some understand the number to refer to the length of the division of the northern and southern kingdoms down to the fall of Jerusalem (931-586 b.c.), but this adds up to only 345 years.
  25. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
  26. Ezekiel 4:6 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile, indicating the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
  27. Ezekiel 4:8 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
  28. Ezekiel 4:9 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
  29. Ezekiel 4:9 tn Heb “bread.”
  30. Ezekiel 4:9 tc The LXX reads: “190 days.”
  31. Ezekiel 4:10 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
  32. Ezekiel 4:10 tn Heb “from time to time.”
  33. Ezekiel 4:11 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
  34. Ezekiel 4:12 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
  35. Ezekiel 4:13 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
  36. Ezekiel 4:14 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
  37. Ezekiel 4:16 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
  38. Ezekiel 4:17 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
  39. Ezekiel 5:1 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT.
  40. Ezekiel 5:1 tn Heb, “pass (it) over your head and your beard.”
  41. Ezekiel 5:3 tn Heb “from there a few in number.” The word “strands” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
  42. Ezekiel 5:3 sn Objects could be carried in the end of a garment (Hag 2:12).
  43. Ezekiel 5:4 tn Heb “into the midst of” (so KJV, ASV). This phrase has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.
  44. Ezekiel 5:6 sn The nations are subject to a natural law according to Gen 9; see also Amos 1:3-2:3 and Jonah 1:2.
  45. Ezekiel 5:6 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.”
  46. Ezekiel 5:6 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.
  47. Ezekiel 5:7 tn Traditionally this difficult form has been derived from a hypothetical root הָמוֹן (hamon), supposedly meaning “be in tumult/uproar,” but such a verb occurs nowhere else. It is more likely that it is to be derived from a root מָנוֹן (manon), meaning “disdain” (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:52). A derivative from this root is used in Prov 29:21 of a rebellious servant. See HALOT 600 s.v. מָנוֹן.
  48. Ezekiel 5:7 sn You are more arrogant than the nations around you. Israel is accused of being worse than the nations in Ezek 16:27; 2 Kgs 21:11; Jer 2:11.
  49. Ezekiel 5:7 tc Some Hebrew mss and the Syriac omit the words “not even.” In this case they are being accused of following the practices of the surrounding nations. See Ezek 11:12.
  50. Ezekiel 5:8 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 ‘hinnenî ’êlékâ’” 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.
  51. Ezekiel 5:8 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.”
  52. Ezekiel 5:8 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.
  53. Ezekiel 5:9 tn Or “abominable idols.”
  54. Ezekiel 5:10 tn In context “you” refers to the city of Jerusalem. To make this clear for the modern reader, “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation in apposition to “you.”sn This cannibalism would occur as a result of starvation due to the city being besieged. It is one of the judgments threatened for a covenant law violation (Lev 26:29; see also Deut 28:53; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; Zech 11:9).
  55. Ezekiel 5:10 tn Heb “all of your survivors.”
  56. Ezekiel 5:10 tn Heb “to every wind.”
  57. Ezekiel 5:11 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.
  58. Ezekiel 5:12 sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.
  59. Ezekiel 5:12 sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.
  60. Ezekiel 5:13 tn Or “calm myself.”
  61. Ezekiel 5:13 tn The Hebrew noun translated “jealousy” is used in the human realm to describe suspicion of adultery (Num 5:14ff.; Prov 6:34). Since Israel’s relationship with God was often compared to a marriage, this term is appropriate here. The term occurs elsewhere in Ezekiel in 8:3, 5; 16:38, 42; 23:25.
  62. Ezekiel 5:15 tc This reading is supported by the versions and by the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QEzek). Most Masoretic Hebrew mss read:“it will be,” but if the final he (ה) is read as a mater lectionis, as it can be with the second masculine singular perfect, then they are in agreement. In either case the subject refers to Jerusalem.
  63. Ezekiel 5:15 tn The Hebrew word occurs only here in the OT. A related verb means “revile, taunt” (see Ps 44:16).
  64. Ezekiel 5:15 tn Heb “discipline and devastation.” These words are omitted in the Old Greek. The first term pictures Jerusalem as a recipient or example of divine discipline; the second depicts her as a desolate ruin (see Ezek 6:14).
  65. Ezekiel 5:15 tn Heb “in anger and in fury and in rebukes of fury.” The heaping up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of God’s anger.
  66. Ezekiel 5:16 tn The Hebrew word carries the basic idea of “bad, displeasing, injurious” but has the nuance “deadly” when used of weapons (see Ps 144:10).
  67. Ezekiel 5:16 tn Heb “which are/were to destroy.”
  68. Ezekiel 5:16 tn The language of this verse may have been influenced by Deut 32:23.
  69. Ezekiel 5:16 tn Or “which were to destroy those whom I will send to destroy you” (cf. NASB).
  70. Ezekiel 5:16 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support. See 4:16, as well as the covenant curse in Lev 26:26.
  71. Ezekiel 5:17 tn Heb “will bereave you.”
  72. Ezekiel 5:17 tn Heb “will pass through you.” This threat recalls the warning of Lev 26:22, 25 and Deut 32:24-25.
  73. Ezekiel 6:2 tn Heb “set your face against.” The expression occurs at the beginning of Ezekiel’s prophetic oracles in Ezek 13:17; 20:46; 21:2; 25:2; 28:21; 29:2; 35:2; 38:2.sn Based on comparison to a similar expression in Ugaritic, the phrase may imply that Ezekiel was actually to go to these locations to deliver his message.
  74. Ezekiel 6:3 tn The phrase “mountains of Israel” occurs only in the book of Ezekiel (6:2, 3; 19:9; 33:28; 34:13, 14; 35:12; 36:1, 4, 8; 37:22; 38:8; 39:2, 4, 17). The expression refers to the whole land of Israel.sn The mountainous terrain of Israel would contrast with the exiles’ habitat in the river valley of Babylonia.
  75. Ezekiel 6:3 tn The introductory formula “Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord” parallels a pronouncement delivered by the herald of a king (2 Kgs 18:28).
  76. Ezekiel 6:3 tn Heb “Look I, I am bringing.” The repetition of the pronoun draws attention to the speaker. The construction also indicates that the action is soon to come; the Lord is “about to bring a sword against” them.
  77. Ezekiel 6:3 tn The Hebrew term refers to elevated platforms where pagan sacrifices were performed.
  78. Ezekiel 6:4 tn The word גִּלּוּלִים (gillulim) refers to idols with contempt. Thirty-nine of its forty-eight biblical occurrences are found in Ezekiel. It may be related to either of two roots (גלל; gll). The more common root (1-גלל) is concerned with rolling and round things, producing words like “wheel,” “bowl,” “skull,” “heap of stones,” and “dung.” The other root (2-גלל) means “to be soiled.” A possible cognate in Babylonian (gullultu) refers to a “misdeed, crime, sin” (CAD G, 131; see also gullulu, “to sin”). The pejorative use of the term may come from one of several possibilities. The basic cylindrical shape of many idols lends itself to a term from 1-גלל. As a pejorative it may be emphasizing that idols are simply blocks of wood (cf. Isa 44:19). It has also been suggested that the term plays off of the word for dung, גֵּל (gel), as little round things. Possibly it is related to 2-גלל with overtones of being soiled. Some relation to the Babylonian word would also suit a pejorative and may have been intended by Ezekiel as he prophesied in a Babylonian context. In any case the word carries a negative connotation.sn This verse is probably based on Lev 26:30, in which God forecasts that he will destroy their high places, cut off their incense altars, and set their corpses by the corpses of their idols.
  79. Ezekiel 6:5 tc This first sentence, which explains the meaning of the last sentence of the previous verse, does not appear in the LXX and may be an instance of a marginal explanatory note making its way into the text.
  80. Ezekiel 6:6 tn The Hebrew verb translated “wiped out” is used to describe the judgment of the Flood (Gen 6:7; 7:4, 23).
  81. Ezekiel 6:7 sn The phrase you will know that I am the Lord concludes over sixty oracles in the book of Ezekiel and indicates the ultimate goal of God’s action. The phrase is often used in the book of Exodus as well (Exod 7:5; 14:4, 18). By Ezekiel’s day the people had forgotten that the Lord (Yahweh) was their covenant God and had turned to other gods. They had to be reminded that Yahweh alone deserved to be worshiped because only he possessed the power to meet their needs. Through judgment and eventually deliverance, Israel would be reminded that Yahweh alone held their destiny in his hands.
  82. Ezekiel 6:8 tn Heb “when you have fugitives from the sword among the nations, when you are scattered among the lands.”
  83. Ezekiel 6:9 tn The words “they will realize” are not in the Hebrew text; they are added here for stylistic reasons since this clause assumes the previous verb “to remember” or “to take into account.”
  84. Ezekiel 6:9 tn Heb “how I was broken by their adulterous heart.” The image of God being “broken” is startling but perfectly natural within the metaphorical framework of God as offended husband. The idiom must refer to the intense grief that Israel’s unfaithfulness caused God. For a discussion of the syntax and semantics of the Hebrew text, see M. Greenberg, Ezekiel (AB), 1:134.
  85. Ezekiel 6:9 tn Heb adds “in their faces.”
  86. Ezekiel 6:10 tn Heb “not in vain did I speak to do to them this catastrophe.” The wording of the last half of v. 10 parallels God’s declaration after the sin of the golden calf (Exod 32:14).
  87. Ezekiel 6:11 sn By the sword and by famine and by pestilence. A similar trilogy of punishments is mentioned in Lev 26:25-26. See also Jer 14:12; 21:9; 27:8, 13; 29:18.
  88. Ezekiel 6:12 tn Heb “the one who is left and the one who is spared.”
  89. Ezekiel 6:13 sn By referring to every high hill…all the mountaintops…under every green tree and every leafy oak Ezekiel may be expanding on the phraseology of Deut 12:2 (see 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 16:4; 17:10; Jer 2:20; 3:6, 13; 2 Chr 28:4).
  90. Ezekiel 6:14 sn I will stretch out my hand against them is a common expression in the book of Ezekiel (14:9, 13; 16:27; 25:7; 35:3).
  91. Ezekiel 6:14 tc The Vulgate reads the name as “Riblah,” a city north of Damascus. The MT reads Diblah, a city otherwise unknown. The letters resh (ר) and dalet (ד) may have been confused in the Hebrew text. The town of Riblah was in the land of Hamath (2 Kgs 23:33), which represented the northern border of Israel (Ezek 47:14).
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Hebrews 4

God’s Promised Rest

4 Therefore we must be wary[a] that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it. 2 For we had good news proclaimed to us just as they did. But the message they heard did them no good, since they did not join in[b] with those who heard it in faith.[c] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’”[d] And yet God’s works[e] were accomplished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,”[f] 5 but to repeat the text cited earlier:[g] “They will never enter my rest!” 6 Therefore it remains for some to enter it, yet those to whom it was previously proclaimed did not enter because of disobedience. 7 So God[h] again ordains a certain day, “Today,” speaking through David[i] after so long a time, as in the words quoted before,[j] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![k] Do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God[l] would not have spoken afterward about another day. 9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 10 For the one who enters God’s[m] rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from God,[n] but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest

14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.[o]

Footnotes:

  1. Hebrews 4:1 tn Grk “let us fear.”
  2. Hebrews 4:2 tn Or “they were not united.”
  3. Hebrews 4:2 tc A few mss (א and a few versional witnesses) have the nominative singular participle συγκεκερασμένος (sunkekerasmenos, “since it [the message] was not combined with faith by those who heard it”), a reading that refers back to the ὁ λόγος (ho logos, “the message”). There are a few other variants here (e.g., συγκεκεραμμένοι [sunkekerammenoi] in 104, συγκεκεραμένους [sunkekeramenous] in 1881 M), but the accusative plural participle συγκεκερασμένους (sunkekerasmenous), found in P13vid,46 A B C D* Ψ 0243 0278 33 81 1739 2464, has by far the best external credentials. This participle agrees with the previous ἐκείνους (ekeinous, “those”), a more difficult construction grammatically than the nominative singular. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, συγκεκερασμένους is preferred.
  4. Hebrews 4:3 sn A quotation from Ps 95:11.
  5. Hebrews 4:3 tn Grk “although the works,” continuing the previous reference to God. The referent (God) is specified in the translation for clarity.
  6. Hebrews 4:4 sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.
  7. Hebrews 4:5 tn Grk “and in this again.”
  8. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Hebrews 4:7 sn Ps 95 in the Hebrew does not mention David either in the text or the superscription. The writer of Hebrews might attribute Psalms as a whole to David, though some psalms are specifically attributed to other individuals or groups. Yet the Greek inscription for Ps 95 in the LXX credits the psalm to David, and the author of Hebrews frequently uses the LXX.
  10. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “as it has been said before” (see Heb 3:7).
  11. Hebrews 4:7 tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”
  12. Hebrews 4:8 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  13. Hebrews 4:10 tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  14. Hebrews 4:13 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  15. Hebrews 4:16 tn Grk “for timely help.”
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Psalm 104:24-35

24 How many living things you have made, O Lord![a]
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;[b]
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
25 Over here is the deep, wide sea,[c]
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,[d]
living things both small and large.
26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale[e] you made to play in it.
27 All your creatures[f] wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis.[g]
28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food.[h]
29 When you ignore them, they panic.[i]
When you take away their life’s breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
31 May the splendor of the Lord endure.[j]
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made.[k]
32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist.[l]
34 May my thoughts[m] be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners disappear[n] from the earth,
and the wicked vanish.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 104:24 tn Heb “How many [are] your works, O Lord.” In this case the Lord’s “works” are the creatures he has made, as the preceding and following contexts make clear.
  2. Psalm 104:24 tn Heb “all of them with wisdom you have made.”
  3. Psalm 104:25 tn Heb “this [is] the sea, great and broad of hands [i.e., “sides” or “shores”].”
  4. Psalm 104:25 tn Heb “where [there are] swimming things, and without number.”
  5. Psalm 104:26 tn Heb “[and] this Leviathan, [which] you formed to play in it.” Elsewhere Leviathan is a multiheaded sea monster that symbolizes forces hostile to God (see Ps 74:14; Isa 27:1), but here it appears to be an actual marine creature created by God, probably some type of whale.
  6. Psalm 104:27 tn Heb “All of them.” The pronoun “them” refers not just to the sea creatures mentioned in vv. 25-26, but to all living things (see v. 24). This has been specified in the translation as “all of your creatures” for clarity.
  7. Psalm 104:27 tn Heb “to give their food in its time.”
  8. Psalm 104:28 tn Heb “they are satisfied [with] good.”
  9. Psalm 104:29 tn Heb “you hide your face, they are terrified.”
  10. Psalm 104:31 tn Heb “be forever.”
  11. Psalm 104:31 tn Or “rejoice in his works.”
  12. Psalm 104:33 tn Heb “in my duration.”
  13. Psalm 104:34 tn That is, the psalmist’s thoughts as expressed in his songs of praise.
  14. Psalm 104:35 tn Or “be destroyed.”
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Proverbs 26:27

27 The one who digs a pit[a] will fall into it;
the one who rolls a stone—it will come back on him.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 26:27 sn The verse is teaching talionic justice (“an eye for an eye,” etc.), and so the activities described should be interpreted as evil in their intent. “Digging a pit” would mean laying a trap for someone (the figure of speech would be a metonymy of cause for the effect of ruining someone, if an actual pit is being dug; the figure would be hypocatastasis if digging a pit is being compared to laying a trap, but no pit is being dug). Likewise, “rolling a stone” on someone means to destroy that individual.
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.