1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth [month] , the tenth [day] of the month, [that] certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2 Then came the word of the LORD to me, saying, 3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to inquire of me? [As] I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. 4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge [them] ? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers: 5 And say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to them, saying, I [am] the LORD your God; 6 In the day [that] I lifted up my hand to them, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which [is] the glory of all lands: 7 Then said I to them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I [am] the LORD your God. 8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken to me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the heathen, among whom they [were] , in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them forth from the land of Egypt. 10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them my statutes, and showed them my judgments, which [if] a man doeth, he shall even live in them. 12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I [am] the LORD that sanctify them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which [if] a man doeth, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 Yet also I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given [them] , flowing with milk and honey, which [is] the glory of all lands; 16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless my eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said to their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: 19 I [am] the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; 20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I [am] the LORD your God. 21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which [if] a man doeth, he shall even live in them: they profaned my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 23 I lifted up my hand to them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; 24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. 25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes [that were] not good, and judgments by which they should not live; 26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through [the fire] all the first-born, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I [am] the LORD. 27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28 [For] when I had brought them into the land, [for] which I lifted up my hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savor, and poured out there their drink-offerings. 29 Then I said to them, What [is] the high place to which ye go? and its name is called Bamah to this day. 30 Wherefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye lewd deeds after their abominations? 31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even to this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. 32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. 33 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with an out-stretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: 34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries in which ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an out-stretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. 36 As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. 37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. 39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter [also] , if ye will not hearken to me: but profane ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, on the mountain of the hight of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. 41 I will accept you with your sweet savor, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. 42 And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country [for] which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings in which ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. 44 And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. 45 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 Son of man, set thy face towards the south, and drop [thy word] towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field; 47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein. 48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched. 49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
Ezekiel · Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Ezekiel 20 Noah Webster's Bible (1833)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (47)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 40:1; Ezekiel 24:1; Ezekiel 29:17; Ezekiel 26:1
- 3 Psalm 50:15–21; Proverbs 28:9; Matthew 15:8–9; Micah 3:7; Ezekiel 20:31
- 4 Ezekiel 22:2; Ezekiel 23:36; Luke 11:47–51; Ezekiel 14:14; Luke 13:33–35
- 5 Ezekiel 20:15; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 6:6–7; Deuteronomy 7:6; Ezekiel 47:14
- 6 Jeremiah 32:22; Ezekiel 20:15; Exodus 3:8; Psalm 48:2; Daniel 8:9
- 7 Leviticus 18:3; Ezekiel 20:8; Leviticus 11:44; Ezekiel 18:31; Deuteronomy 29:16–18
- 8 Isaiah 63:10; Ezekiel 5:13; Ezekiel 20:7; Ezekiel 7:8; Ezekiel 20:21
- 9 Ezekiel 39:7; Ezekiel 20:22; Exodus 32:12; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 36:21–22
- 10 Exodus 20:2; Exodus 14:17–22; Exodus 13:17–18; Exodus 15:22
- 11 Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:5; Galatians 3:12; Deuteronomy 4:8; Luke 10:28
- 12 Ezekiel 20:20; Ezekiel 37:28; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Leviticus 21:23; Exodus 19:5–6
- 13 Ezekiel 20:21; Ezekiel 20:8; Ezekiel 20:24; Deuteronomy 9:8; Isaiah 56:6
- 14 Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:22; Ezekiel 36:22–23; Ephesians 1:12; Ephesians 1:6
- 15 Psalm 95:11; Psalm 106:26; Hebrews 3:11; Hebrews 3:18; Ezekiel 20:23
- 16 Numbers 15:39; Ezekiel 14:3–4; Ezekiel 20:8; Numbers 25:2; Acts 7:39–43
- 17 Ezekiel 11:13; Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:18; Nehemiah 9:19; 1 Samuel 24:10
- 18 Deuteronomy 4:3–6; Acts 7:51; Psalm 78:6–8; Zechariah 1:2–4; Ezekiel 20:7
- 19 Ezekiel 36:27; Deuteronomy 5:32–6:8; Psalm 105:45; Jeremiah 3:22–23; Psalm 81:9–10
- 20 Isaiah 58:13; Jeremiah 17:22; Ezekiel 20:12; Exodus 31:13–17; Nehemiah 13:15–22
- 21 Ezekiel 20:13; Ezekiel 20:8; Deuteronomy 31:27; Numbers 21:5; Daniel 11:36
- 22 Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14; Isaiah 48:9–11; Psalm 78:38; Jeremiah 14:21
- 23 Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64–68; Psalm 106:27; Jeremiah 15:4; Deuteronomy 32:26–27
- 24 Ezekiel 20:16; Ezekiel 6:9; Ezekiel 20:13; Amos 2:4; Ezekiel 18:6
- 25 Psalm 81:12; Ezekiel 20:39; Isaiah 66:4; Ezekiel 20:26; 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
- 26 Ezekiel 6:7; Leviticus 18:21; Isaiah 63:17; Ezekiel 20:31; Ezekiel 16:20–21
- 27 Romans 2:24; Ezekiel 3:11; Ezekiel 3:27; Ezekiel 2:7; Ezekiel 3:4
- 28 Ezekiel 6:13; Jeremiah 3:6; Isaiah 57:5–7; Nehemiah 9:22–26; Joshua 23:14
- 29 Ezekiel 16:24–25; Ezekiel 16:31
- 30 Jeremiah 16:12; Judges 2:19; Jeremiah 7:26; Acts 7:51; Numbers 32:14
- 31 Psalm 106:37–39; Jeremiah 7:31; Ezekiel 20:26; Ezekiel 14:3–4; Jeremiah 19:5
- 32 Ezekiel 11:5; Jeremiah 44:17; Psalm 139:2; Daniel 5:4; Revelation 9:20
- 33 Jeremiah 21:5; Ezekiel 8:18; Jeremiah 42:18; Jeremiah 44:6; Daniel 9:11–12
- 34 Amos 9:9–10; Ezekiel 20:38; Ezekiel 34:16; Isaiah 27:9–13; Jeremiah 44:6
- 35 Hosea 2:14; Ezekiel 17:20; Revelation 12:14; Jeremiah 2:35; Ezekiel 19:13
- 36 Numbers 11:1–35; 1 Corinthians 10:5–10; Ezekiel 20:13; Ezekiel 20:21; Psalm 106:15–48
- 37 Jeremiah 33:13; Leviticus 27:32; Matthew 25:32–33; Ezekiel 16:59–60; Psalm 89:30–32
- 38 Ezekiel 13:9; Amos 9:9–10; Psalm 95:11; Malachi 4:1–3; Malachi 3:3
- 39 Ezekiel 20:25–26; Isaiah 1:13–15; Judges 10:14; Ezekiel 43:7; Hosea 4:17
- 40 Isaiah 56:7; Isaiah 60:7; Malachi 3:4; Ezekiel 17:23; 1 Peter 2:5
- 41 Ezekiel 28:25; Ezekiel 11:17; Ezekiel 38:23; Ezekiel 28:22; Jeremiah 30:3
- 42 Ezekiel 34:13; Ezekiel 38:23; Ezekiel 36:23–24; Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 20:38
- 43 Hosea 5:15; Ezekiel 6:9; Jeremiah 31:18; Ezekiel 36:31; 2 Corinthians 7:11
- 44 Ezekiel 24:24; Ezekiel 20:22; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 20:9; Psalm 115:1
- 46 Ezekiel 21:2; Amos 7:16; Jeremiah 13:19; Jeremiah 22:7; Micah 2:6
- 47 Jeremiah 21:14; Isaiah 9:18–19; Luke 23:31; Ezekiel 17:24; Isaiah 24:1–6
- 48 Isaiah 26:11; Lamentations 2:16–17; Jeremiah 40:2–3; 2 Chronicles 7:20–22; Jeremiah 7:20
- 49 John 16:25; Acts 17:18; Matthew 13:13–14; Ezekiel 17:2
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… of bondage; as Ezekiel the prophet, when stating the reasons for the giving of such a law, declares: "And their eyes were after the desire of their heart; and I gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live." Luke also has recorded that Stephen, who was the first elected into the diaconate by …
… the Sabbath, "Ye shall do no servile work in it." Wherefore also it is said by Ezekiel the prophet, "And I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctify them." This knowledge shall be perfected when we shall be perfectly at rest, and shall perfectly …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
… of the covenant between Me and you." This same does Ezekiel the prophet say with regard to the Sabbaths: "Also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord, that sanctify them." And in Exodus, God says to Moses: "And ye shall observe My Sabbaths; for it …