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Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have profaned My Sabbaths.
Ezekiel 23:38 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Moreover this they have done to me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
  • KJV Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.
  • BSB They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.
  • NKJV Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.
  • NLT Furthermore, they have defiled my Temple and violated my Sabbath day!

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

On the very day of their idol worship they defiled God's sanctuary and profaned His Sabbaths. It highlights the brazen mixing of false worship with the trappings of true religion.

Overview

The added charge is the defilement of the temple and the desecration of the Sabbath, signs of the covenant. The people did not abandon outward religion; they corrupted it, blending idolatry with sacred things 'in the same day.' Such hypocrisy is especially offensive to God, who desires worship in spirit and truth, not divided allegiance.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Ezek 20:13“‘“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
  • 2 Kgs 21:7He set the engraved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which Yahweh said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever;
  • 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.
  • Ezek 20:24because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
  • 2 Kgs 23:11–12He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of Yahweh’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
  • Jer 17:27But if you will not listen to me to make the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched.”’”
  • Neh 13:17–18Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?
  • Ezek 22:8You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.
  • 2 Kgs 21:4He built altars in Yahweh’s house, of which Yahweh said, “I will put my name in Jerusalem.”
  • Ezek 8:5–16Then he said to me, “Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north.” So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and saw, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
  • 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.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 23:38YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 23:38 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.