Ezekiel 20:39

Translations

Modern

And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Traditional

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 unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

Literal

And you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord YHWH: Let each man go and serve his idols, and afterward, if you are not listening to Me; and the name of My holiness you will profane no more with your gifts and with your idols!

Latin

Et vos, domus Israël, hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Singuli post idola vestra ambulate, et servite eis. Quod si et in hoc non audieritis me, et nomen meum sanctum pollueritis ultra in muneribus vestris et in idolis vestris:

Original

Hebrew

English

And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Notes

Ezekiel 20:39–44

The people of Israel might continue to worship idols for a time. However, in the end, they would worship God in spirit and in truth on his holy mountain (see Ezekiel 40–48, where the purified worship of God is restored in the temple). Jesus also spoke about worshiping the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:21–24).

God chose Israel to be a holy nation. His purpose in choosing them would not fail. In the end, his plan would stand.

The people would become like a pleasing sacrifice to God. This does not mean they would be killed. It means their lives would fully belong to him. Through them, God’s holiness would be clearly seen.

This new exodus would lead to pure worship. A purified people would offer that worship. God would save them by his sovereign grace (his rule and undeserved kindness).

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Ezekiel 20:25–26
I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.
Isaiah 1:13–15
Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
Hosea 4:17
Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
Judges 10:14
Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”
Ezekiel 43:7
…and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.
Psalm 81:12
So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
2 Kings 3:13
Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
Romans 1:24–28
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
Ezekiel 23:37–39
For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols. They have even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to Me, in the fire as food for their idols.
Proverbs 21:27
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
Zephaniah 1:4–5
“I will stretch out My hand against Judah and against all who dwell in Jerusalem. I will cut off from this place every remnant of Baal, the names of the idolatrous and pagan priests—
2 Thessalonians 2:11
For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie,

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes LORD: Names or title used to refer to God

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of

Topics

Hypocrisy: General Scriptures Concerning Idolatry: They Who Practise: Pollute the Name of God

Ezekiel 20:39

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