Ezekiel 33:21-33

Jerusalem Struck Down

21 In the ¹twelfth year ²of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ³a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ⁴"The city has been struck down."

22 ⁵Now ⁶the hand of the LORD had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

23 The word of the LORD came to me:

24 ⁷"Son of man, the inhabitants of these ⁸waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ⁹'Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ¹⁰we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.'

25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: ¹¹You eat flesh with the blood and ¹²lift up your eyes to your idols and ¹³shed blood; shall you then possess the land?

26 ¹⁴You rely on the sword, ¹⁵you commit abominations, and ¹⁶each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?

27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: ¹⁷As I live, surely those who are in ¹⁸the waste places shall fall by ¹⁹the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ²⁰the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ²¹strongholds and in caves shall die by ²²pestilence.

28 ²³And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ²⁴her proud might shall come to an end, and ²⁵the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through.

29 ²⁶Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

30 "As for you, ²⁷son of man, ²⁸your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.'

31 ²⁹And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ³⁰with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.

32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and ³¹plays^[a] well on an instrument, for ³²they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

33 ³³When this comes--and come it will!--³⁴then they will know that a prophet has been among them."

Ezekiel 33:21-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 33

This chapter treats of the prophet's duty, and the people's sins; contains a vindication of the justice of God; a threatening of destruction to those who remained in the land after the taking of the city; and a detection of the hypocrisy of the prophet's hearers. The duty of a watchman in general is declared, Eze 33:1-6, an application of this to the prophet, Eze 33:7: the sum of whose business is to warn the wicked man of his wickedness; and the consequence of doing, or not doing it, is expressed, Eze 33:8,9, an objection of the people, and the prophet's answer to it, Eze 33:10,11, who is bid to acquaint them, that a righteous man trusting to his righteousness, and sinning, should not live; and that a sinner repenting of his sins should not die, Eze 33:12-16, the people's charge of inequality in the ways of God is retorted upon them, and removed from the Lord, and proved against them, Eze 33:17-20, then follows a prophecy, delivered out after the news was brought of the taking of the city, threatening with ruin those that remained in the land, confident of safety, and that for their sins, which are particularly enumerated, Eze 33:21-29, and the chapter is closed with a discovery of the hypocrisy of those that attended the prophet's ministry, Eze 33:30-33.

Cross References

• 1. See Ezekiel 20:1
• 2. Ezekiel 40:1; See Ezekiel 1:2
• 3. Ezekiel 24:26
• 4. Ezekiel 40:1; [Ezekiel 26:2]; See 2 Kings 25:2-11
• 5. Ezekiel 24:26, 27
• 6. See Ezekiel 1:3
• 7. See Ezekiel 2:1
• 8. [Ezekiel 36:4]
• 9. Isaiah 51:2; [Acts 7:5]
• 10. [Matthew 3:9; Luke 3:8]
• 11. [Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17]
• 12. Ezekiel 18:6
• 13. See Ezekiel 22:3
• 14. [Genesis 27:40]
• 15. Ezekiel 22:11
• 16. Ezekiel 22:11
• 17. See Ezekiel 16:48
• 18. [Ezekiel 36:4]
• 19. [Ezekiel 14:21]
• 20. [Ezekiel 14:21]
• 21. [1 Samuel 23:29]
• 22. [Ezekiel 14:21]
• 23. [Ezekiel 35:3, 9; Jer. 44:2, 6, 22]
• 24. [Ezekiel 7:24; Ezekiel 30:6]
• 25. See Ezekiel 6:2
• 26. See Ezekiel 6:7
• 27. [See ver. 24 above]
• 28. See ver. 2
• 29. See Ezekiel 8:1
• 30. Psalms 78:36, 37; Isaiah 29:13; Jeremiah 12:2; 1 John 3:18
• 31. [1 Samuel 16:17]
• 32. [Matthew 7:26; Luke 6:49]
• 33. [ver. 29]
• 34. Ezekiel 2:5

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew like the singing of lustful songs with a beautiful voice and one who plays