Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things you are doing mean to us?”
Parallel translations
- WEB The people said to me, Won’t you tell us what these things are to us, that you do so?
- KJV And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
- NKJV And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things signify to us, that you behave so?”
- NASB And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are doing?”
- NLT Then the people asked, “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?”
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 people, struck by Ezekiel's strange behavior, ask what it means for them. Their question opens the way for the message the sign was meant to convey.
Overview
The prophet's unusual restraint in grief provokes the exiles to ask its significance. Sign-acts in Ezekiel were designed to arrest attention and prompt exactly such inquiry. The people's curiosity becomes the occasion for God's word to land, showing how God uses even our questions to draw us toward His truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ezek 12:9“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’
- Ezek 37:18When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you explain to us what you mean by these?’
- Mal 3:13“Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- Ezek 21:7And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezek 20:49Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling parables?’”
- Mal 3:7–8Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But you ask, ‘How can we return?’
- Ezek 17:12“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.
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 24:19 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.