Ezekiel 20

All 49 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

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1. 1On the 10th day of the 5th month, in the 7th year, some of the elders of Israel came to seek guidance from the LORD. They sat down in front of me.
2. 2Then the word of the LORD came to me:
3. 3"Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: Have you come to seek guidance from me? As surely as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I refuse to let you consult me.'"
4. 4Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Make them aware of the abominations of their fathers.
5. 5"Tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I made a solemn oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob. I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and swore to them, saying, I am the LORD your God.
6. 6On that day I swore to bring them out of Egypt and into a land I had searched out for them — a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.
7. 7I told them: Each of you must throw away the disgusting idols you've set your eyes on. Don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
8. 8But they rebelled against me and refused to listen. Not one of them threw away their disgusting idols, and they didn't abandon the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my fury on them and unleash my full anger against them right there in Egypt.
9. 9But I acted for my name's sake, so it would not be polluted among the nations where they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
10. 10So I brought them out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.
11. 11I gave them my laws and revealed my rules to them — the commands that give life to anyone who obeys them.
12. 12I also gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between me and them, so they would know that I am the LORD who makes them holy.
13. 13But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn't follow my laws, they rejected my rules — the very commands that give life to anyone who obeys them — and they completely violated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my fury on them in the wilderness and destroy them.
14. 14But again I held back for the sake of my name, so it wouldn't be dishonored among the nations who had watched me bring Israel out of Egypt.
15. 15Yet I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them — that land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands.
16. 16This was because they rejected my rules, refused to follow my laws, and violated my Sabbaths — their hearts were chasing after their idols.
17. 17Nevertheless, I spared them from destruction and did not completely destroy them in the wilderness.
18. 18Instead, I spoke to their children in the wilderness and said: Don't follow the practices of your parents. Don't observe their rules or defile yourselves with their idols.
19. 19I am the LORD your God. Follow my laws, keep my rules, and obey them.
20. 20Keep my Sabbaths holy. They will be a sign between me and you, so you will know that I am the LORD your God.
21. 21But even the children rebelled against me. They didn't follow my laws or carefully obey my rules — the commands that give life to anyone who obeys them — and they violated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my fury on them and unleash my full anger against them in the wilderness.
22. 22But I pulled back my hand and held back for the sake of my name, so it wouldn't be dishonored among the nations who had watched me bring them out.
23. 23I also swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them across foreign lands,
24. 24because they didn't obey my rules, they rejected my laws, they violated my Sabbaths, and their eyes kept turning to their fathers' idols.
25. 25So I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments by which they could not live;
26. 26I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused all that opens the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, so that they might know that I am the LORD.
27. 27Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: Your fathers have blasphemed me by committing a trespass against me.'
28. 28When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them, they looked at every high hill and every leafy tree and set up their sacrifices there. They presented their offensive offerings there, burned their pleasing aromas, and poured out their drink offerings.
29. 29I asked them: What is this high place you keep going to? And so it has been called Bamah to this day.'"
30. 30So tell the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: Are you going to defile yourselves like your ancestors did? Are you going to commit whoredom with their abominations?'
31. 31When you present your offerings and sacrifice your sons in the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this very day. And you think I should let you consult me, house of Israel? As surely as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I will not let you consult me!
32. 32What you have in mind will never happen. You say, We want to be like the other nations, like the peoples of other countries, worshiping gods of wood and stone.
33. 33As surely as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'I will rule over you with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and fury poured out.
34. 34I will bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you've been scattered — with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and fury poured out.
35. 35I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will contend with you face to face.
36. 36Just as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead with you, says the Lord GOD.
37. 37'I will make you pass under the shepherd's rod and bring you into the bond of the covenant.
38. 38I will purge out the rebels and those who sin against me from among you. I will bring them out of the lands where they've been living, but they will never set foot in the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.'
39. 39"As for you, house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Go ahead — every one of you, keep serving your idols! Go on doing it, if you won't listen to me. But you will no longer dishonor my holy name with your gifts and your idols.
40. 40For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel,' declares the Lord GOD, 'the entire house of Israel — every last one of them — will serve me in the land. There I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and the best of your gifts, along with all your holy contributions.
41. 41I will accept you with your pleasing aroma when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you've been scattered. I will be sanctified in you before the nations.
42. 42You will know that I am the LORD when I bring you into the land of Israel — the country I swore to give your ancestors.
43. 43There you will remember everything you did and all the ways you defiled yourselves. You will be disgusted with yourselves because of all the evil you committed.
44. 44Then you will know that I am the LORD, because I will have dealt with you for the sake of my name — not according to your wicked ways or your corrupt actions, house of Israel,' declares the Lord GOD."
45. 45The word of the LORD came to me again:
46. 46"Son of man, turn and face the south. Preach against the south and prophesy against the forest in the southern land.
47. 47Tell the southern forest, 'Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to set a fire in you that will devour every tree — both green and dry. The blazing flames will not be put out, and every face from south to north will be scorched by it.
48. 48Everyone will see that I, the LORD, have set it ablaze. It will not be put out.'"
49. 49Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! The people are saying about me, 'All he does is speak in riddles!'"