Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? Do you play the prostitute after their abominations?
- BSB Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations?
- NKJV Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing harlotry according to their abominations?
- NASB Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Will you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers and adulterously pursue their detestable things?
- NLT “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?
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
God confronts the present generation: are they defiling themselves like their fathers and playing the harlot after idols? Their sin is shown to be the same as their ancestors'.
Overview
The rhetorical questions force the elders to see that they walk in the very abominations they have heard recounted. The image of spiritual prostitution portrays idolatry as unfaithfulness to the covenant marriage with God. This direct application makes plain that the history lesson is not merely about the past but indicts the people standing before Ezekiel.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 16:12And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
- Jer 7:26Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
- Judg 2:19And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.
- Matt 23:32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
- Acts 7:51Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
- Jer 9:14But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them:
- Num 32:14And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel.
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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 20:30 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.