Parallel Bible results for "ezekiel 20"

Ezekiel 20

New Living Translation NLT

1 On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD . They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply.

2 Then this message came to me from the LORD :

3 “Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing!’

4 “Son of man, bring charges against them and condemn them. Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were.

5 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD : When I chose Israel—when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt—I took a solemn oath that I, the LORD, would be their God.

6 I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.

7 Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, get rid of the vile images you are so obsessed with. Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt, for I am the LORD your God.’

8 “But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They did not get rid of the vile images they were obsessed with, or forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I threatened to pour out my fury on them to satisfy my anger while they were still in Egypt.

9 But I didn’t do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name. I would not allow shame to be brought on my name among the surrounding nations who saw me reveal myself by bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.

10 So I brought them out of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.

11 There I gave them my decrees and regulations so they could find life by keeping them.

12 And I gave them my Sabbath days of rest as a sign between them and me. It was to remind them that I am the LORD, who had set them apart to be holy.

13 “But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness.

14 But again I held back in order to protect the honor of my name before the nations who had seen my power in bringing Israel out of Egypt.

15 But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful place on earth.

16 For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my decrees, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their idols.

17 Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying them in the wilderness.

18 “Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps, defiling themselves with their idols.

19 ‘I am the LORD your God,’ I told them. ‘Follow my decrees, pay attention to my regulations,

20 and keep my Sabbath days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the LORD your God.’

21 “But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my decrees and follow my regulations, even though obedience would have given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threatened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness.

22 Nevertheless, I withdrew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name before the nations that had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.

23 But I took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would scatter them among all the nations

24 because they did not obey my regulations. They scorned my decrees by violating my Sabbath days and longing for the idols of their ancestors.

25 I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life.

26 I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the LORD .

27 “Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD : Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me,

28 for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered sacrifices on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their liquid offerings to them.

29 I said to them, ‘What is this high place where you are going?’ (This kind of pagan shrine has been called Bamah—‘high place’—ever since.)

30 “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD : Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images?

31 For when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves with idols to this day. Should I allow you to ask for a message from me, O people of Israel? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing.

32 “You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen.

33 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will rule over you with an iron fist in great anger and with awesome power.

34 And in anger I will reach out with my strong hand and powerful arm, and I will bring you back from the lands where you are scattered.

35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will judge you face to face.

36 I will judge you there just as I did your ancestors in the wilderness after bringing them out of Egypt, says the Sovereign LORD .

37 I will examine you carefully and hold you to the terms of the covenant.

38 I will purge you of all those who rebel and revolt against me. I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile, but they will never enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD .

39 “As for you, O people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go right ahead and worship your idols, but sooner or later you will obey me and will stop bringing shame on my holy name by worshiping idols.

40 For on my holy mountain, the great mountain of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD, the people of Israel will someday worship me, and I will accept them. There I will require that you bring me all your offerings and choice gifts and sacrifices.

41 When I bring you home from exile, you will be like a pleasing sacrifice to me. And I will display my holiness through you as all the nations watch.

42 Then when I have brought you home to the land I promised with a solemn oath to give to your ancestors, you will know that I am the LORD .

43 You will look back on all the ways you defiled yourselves and will hate yourselves because of the evil you have done.

44 You will know that I am the LORD, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

45 Then this message came to me from the LORD :

46 “Son of man, turn and face the south and speak out against it; prophesy against the brushlands of the Negev.

47 Tell the southern wilderness, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Hear the word of the LORD ! I will set you on fire, and every tree, both green and dry, will be burned. The terrible flames will not be quenched and will scorch everything from south to north.

48 And everyone in the world will see that I, the LORD, have set this fire. It will not be put out.’”

49 Then I said, “O Sovereign LORD, they are saying of me, ‘He only talks in riddles!’”

The Message Bible MSG

1 In the seventh year, the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, some of the leaders of Israel came to ask for guidance from God. They sat down before me.

2 Then God's Message came to me:

3 "Son of man, talk with the leaders of Israel. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, "Have you come to ask me questions? As sure as I am the living God, I'll not put up with questions from you. Decree of God, the Master."'

4 "Son of man, why don't you do it? Yes, go ahead. Hold them accountable. Confront them with the outrageous obscenities of their parents.

5 Tell them that God, the Master, says:

6 On the same day that I raised my hand in the solemn oath, I promised them that I would take them out of the country of Egypt and bring them into a country that I had searched out just for them, a country flowing with milk and honey, a jewel of a country.

7 "'At that time I told them, "Get rid of all the vile things that you've become addicted to. Don't make yourselves filthy with the Egyptian no-god idols. I alone am God, your God."

8 "'But they rebelled against me, wouldn't listen to a word I said. None got rid of the vile things they were addicted to. They held on to the no-gods of Egypt as if for dear life. I seriously considered inflicting my anger on them in force right there in Egypt.

9 Then I thought better of it. I acted out of who I was, not by how I felt. And I acted in a way that would evoke honor, not blasphemy, from the nations around them, nations who had seen me reveal myself by promising to lead my people out of Egypt.

10 And then I did it: I led them out of Egypt into the desert.

11 "'I gave them laws for living, showed them how to live well and obediently before me.

12 I also gave them my weekly holy rest days, my "Sabbaths," a kind of signpost erected between me and them to show them that I, God, am in the business of making them holy.

13 "'But Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They didn't follow my statutes. They despised my laws for living well and obediently in the ways I had set out. And they totally desecrated my holy Sabbaths. I seriously considered unleashing my anger on them right there in the desert.

14 But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.

15 But I did lift my hand in a solemn oath there in the desert and promise them that I would not bring them into the country flowing with milk and honey that I had chosen for them, that jewel among all lands.

16 I canceled my promise because they despised my laws for living obediently, wouldn't follow my statutes, and went ahead and desecrated my holy Sabbaths. They preferred living by their no-god idols.

17 But I didn't go all the way: I didn't wipe them out, didn't finish them off in the desert.

18 "'Then I addressed myself to their children in the desert: "Don't do what your parents did. Don't take up their practices. Don't make yourselves filthy with their no-god idols.

19 I myself am God, your God: Keep my statutes and live by my laws.

20 Keep my Sabbaths as holy rest days, signposts between me and you, signaling that I am God, your God."

21 "'But the children also rebelled against me. They neither followed my statutes nor kept my laws for living upright and well. And they desecrated my Sabbaths. I seriously considered dumping my anger on them, right there in the desert.

22 But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.

23 "'But I did lift my hand in solemn oath there in the desert, and swore that I would scatter them all over the world, disperse them every which way

24 because they didn't keep my laws nor live by my statutes. They desecrated my Sabbaths and remained addicted to the no-god idols of their parents.

25 Since they were determined to live bad lives, I myself gave them statutes that could not produce goodness and laws that did not produce life.

26 I abandoned them. Filthy in the gutter, they perversely sacrificed their firstborn children in the fire. The very horror should have shocked them into recognizing that I am God.'

27 "Therefore, speak to Israel, son of man. Tell them that God says, 'As if that wasn't enough, your parents further insulted me by betraying me.

28 When I brought them into that land that I had solemnly promised with my upraised hand to give them, every time they saw a hill with a sex-and-religion shrine on it or a grove of trees where the sacred whores practiced, they were there, buying into the whole pagan system.

29 I said to them, "What hill do you go to?"' (It's still called "Whore Hills.")

30 "Therefore, say to Israel, 'The Message of God, the Master: You're making your lives filthy by copying the ways of your parents. In repeating their vile practices, you've become whores yourselves.

31 In burning your children as sacrifices, you've become as filthy as your no-god idols - as recently as today! "'Am I going to put up with questions from people like you, Israel? As sure as I am the living God, I, God, the Master, refuse to be called into question by you!

32 "'What you're secretly thinking is never going to happen. You're thinking, "We're going to be like everybody else, just like the other nations. We're going to worship gods we can make and control."

33 '"As sure as I am the living God, says God, the Master, think again! With a mighty show of strength and a terrifying rush of anger, I will be King over you!

34 I'll bring you back from the nations, collect you out of the countries to which you've been scattered, with a mighty show of strength and a terrifying rush of anger.

35 I'll bring you to the desert of nations and haul you into court, where you'll be face to face with judgment.

36 "'As I faced your parents with judgment in the desert of Egypt, so I'll face you with judgment.

37 I'll scrutinize and search every person as you arrive, and I'll bring you under the bond of the covenant.

38 I'll cull out the rebels and traitors. I'll lead them out of their exile, but I won't bring them back to Israel. "'Then you'll realize that I am God.

39 "'But you, people of Israel, this is the Message of God, the Master, to you: Go ahead, serve your no-god idols! But later, you'll think better of it and quit throwing filth and mud on me with your pagan offerings and no-god idols.

40 For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, I, God, the Master, tell you that the entire people of Israel will worship me. I'll receive them there with open arms. I'll demand your best gifts and offerings, all your holy sacrifices.

41 What's more, I'll receive you as the best kind of offerings when I bring you back from all the lands and countries in which you've been scattered. I'll demonstrate in the eyes of the world that I am The Holy.

42 When I return you to the land of Israel, the land that I solemnly promised with upraised arm to give to your parents, you'll realize that I am God.

43 Then and there you'll remember all that you've done, the way you've lived that has made you so filthy - and you'll loathe yourselves.

44 "'But, dear Israel, you'll also realize that I am God when I respond to you out of who I am, not by what I feel about the evil lives you've lived, the corrupt history you've compiled. Decree of God, the Master.'" Nobody Will Put Out the Fire

45 God's Message came to me:

46 "Son of man, face south. Let the Message roll out against the south. Prophesy against the wilderness forest of the south.

47 "Tell the forest of the south, 'Listen to the Message of God! God, the Master, says, I'll set a fire in you that will burn up every tree, dead trees and live trees alike. Nobody will put out the fire. The whole country from south to north will be blackened by it.

48 Everyone is going to see that I, God, started the fire and that it's not going to be put out.'"

49 And I said, "O God, everyone is saying of me, 'He just makes up stories.'" A Sword! A Sword!