Ezequiel 14:5

5 a fin de conquistar la mente y el corazón de mi pueblo que me ha abandonado para rendir culto a sus ídolos detestables’”.

Ezequiel 14:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 14:5

That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart
By which they are ensnared, and drawn aside to their ruin; being given up to strong delusions, to believe a lie, and worship idols; God threatening to answer them by righteous judgments, and thereby take the wickedness, the hypocrisy, and idolatry, that were in their hearts, and expose and make it manifest unto others; or, by punishing them, to draw out the corruption and sin that were in them, that it might be seen what a wicked people they were. The Targum interprets the text in another way,

``that I may bring near the house of Israel, and put repentance into their hearts;''

because they are all estranged from me through their idols;
they grew shy of God and his worship, when they fell into idolatry. Alienation from God, from the life of God, from the law of God, from the worship of God, and of the affections from him, is owing to some idol or another set up in the heart, or before the eye; whatever is worshipped besides God, or gains the ascendant in the heart, alienates from him; and God will not admit of a rival, he cannot and will not bear it; and for this reason he inflicts punishment, or answers in a terrible way.

Ezequiel 14:5 In-Context

3 «Hijo de hombre, estos líderes han levantado ídolos
en su corazón. Se han entregado a cosas que los harán caer en pecado. ¿Por qué habría de escuchar sus peticiones?

4 Diles: “Esto dice el Señor
Soberano: ‘Los israelitas han levantado ídolos en su corazón y han caído en pecado y después corren a consultar a un profeta. Así que yo, el Señor
, les daré la clase de respuesta que merece su gran idolatría,

5 a fin de conquistar la mente y el corazón de mi pueblo que me ha abandonado para rendir culto a sus ídolos detestables’”.

6 »Por lo tanto, diles a los israelitas: “Esto dice el Señor
Soberano: ‘Arrepiéntanse y abandonen sus ídolos, y dejen de cometer ya sus pecados detestables.

7 Yo, el Señor
, les responderé a todos —sean israelitas o extranjeros— los que me rechazan y levantan ídolos en su corazón y así caen en pecado, y después van a consultar a un profeta en busca de mi consejo.