“‘They will come there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
- BSB When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations.
- NKJV And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
- NASB When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.
- NLT “When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The returning people will remove all the detestable idols from the land. It promises a cleansed worship after restoration.
Overview
Part of the restoration is the purging of the very abominations that had defiled the land and temple. The people God regathers will reject the idolatry that brought judgment. This moral renewal accompanies the physical return, showing restoration is more than geographic. Such cleansing of worship anticipates the heart transformation God will work, fully realized through Christ and His Spirit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ezek 5:11Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye won’t spare, and I will have no pity.
- Ezek 37:23neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
- Ezek 42:7–8The wall that was outside by the side of the rooms, toward the outer court before the rooms, its length was fifty cubits.
- Ezek 7:20As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing.
- Mic 5:10–14“It will happen in that day”, says Yahweh, “that I will cut off your horses out from among you, and will destroy your chariots.
- Isa 30:22You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, “Go away!”
- Titus 2:12instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;
- Hos 14:8Ephraim, what have I to do any more with idols? I answer, and will take care of him. I am like a green cypress tree; from me your fruit is found.”
- Jer 16:18First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
- Isa 1:25–27and I will turn my hand on you, thoroughly purge away your dross, and will take away all your tin.
- Ezek 11:21But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
- Col 3:5–8Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 11:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.