Ezekiel 14:13

Translations

Modern

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,

Traditional

Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:

Literal

“Son of man, when a land sins against Me to act unfaithfully—an unfaithfulness—and I stretch out My hand against it and cut off for it the staff of bread, and I send on it famine and I cut off from it man and beast,

Latin

Fili hominis, terra cum peccaverit mihi, ut prævaricetur prævaricans, extendam manum meam super eam, et conteram virgam panis ejus, et immittam in eam famem, et interficiam de ea hominem et jumentum.

Original

Hebrew

English

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,

Notes

Ezekiel 14:12–20

Israel had not been treated unfairly. God did not judge Israel without reason. If any nation sinned against the Lord in this way, that nation would face the same result.
However, this passage clearly speaks about Israel. The words used to describe their sin also describe breaking the covenant (the binding promises between God and his people). Israel had broken this covenant. Because of that, the nation would rightly experience the covenant curses (the punishments promised for disobedience) listed in Leviticus 26. The people had agreed to these terms when the covenant was first made.
The covenant curses appear here in four test cases. Each case shows one of the judgments listed in Leviticus 26:
1. Famine (a severe lack of food), as described in Ezekiel 14:13–14 and Leviticus 26:26.
2. Wild animals attacking the land, as described in Ezekiel 14:15–16 and Leviticus 26:22.
3. War, as described in Ezekiel 14:17–18 and Leviticus 26:25.
4. Disease, as described in Ezekiel 14:19–20 and Leviticus 26:25.
These examples show that Israel’s suffering was not random. It was the direct result of breaking the covenant with the Lord.

Theme notes and profiles

Noah God’s Covenant with Noah

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Leviticus 26:26
When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
Ezekiel 4:16
Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.
Ezekiel 5:16
When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.
Ezekiel 15:8
Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Jeremiah 32:43
And fields will be bought in this land about which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; it has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.’
Isaiah 24:20
The earth staggers like a drunkard and sways like a shack. Earth’s rebellion weighs it down, and it falls, never to rise again.
Isaiah 3:1
For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
Ezekiel 14:21
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
Ezekiel 14:19
Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out My wrath upon it through bloodshed, cutting off from it both man and beast,
Ezekiel 14:17
Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
Ezekiel 20:27
Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me.
Genesis 6:7
So the LORD said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of Noah

Topics

Animals: Suffer Under Divine Judgments, Sent Upon Man Bread: Called the Staff of Life Famine: Sent As a Judgment Idolatry: Warnings Against, and Punishments of Judgments: No Escape From

Ezekiel 14:13

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