And the Levites that are gone away far from me, when Israel went astray, which went astray away from me after their idols; they shall even bear their iniquity.
Parallel translations
- WEB But the Levites who went far from me, when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
- BSB Surely the Levites who wandered away from Me when Israel went astray, and who wandered away from Me after their idols, will bear the consequences of their iniquity.
- NKJV “And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity.
- NASB But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who went astray from Me following their idols, shall suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing.
- NLT And the men of the tribe of Levi who abandoned me when Israel strayed away from me to worship idols must bear the consequences of their unfaithfulness.
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 Levites who strayed into idolatry when Israel went astray must bear the consequences of their sin.
Overview
Levites who led or shared in the nation's idolatry are held accountable and demoted from full priestly privilege. Bearing their iniquity means facing the just results of their unfaithfulness. The passage shows that those given sacred trust are held to high account, while also pointing to the mercy that still grants them a role in God's house.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ezek 48:11It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
- Ezek 22:26Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
- 1 Tim 5:22Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
- Ezek 44:15But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
- 2 Kgs 23:8–9And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man’s left hand at the gate of the city.
- Neh 9:34Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.
- Num 18:23But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance.
- Isa 53:11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
- Gen 4:13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
- Zeph 3:4Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law.
- Lev 19:8Therefore every one that eateth it shall bear his iniquity, because he hath profaned the hallowed thing of the LORD: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
- Jer 23:11For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
- 2 Chr 29:4–5And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street,
- Ps 38:4For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
- Num 5:31Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
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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 44:10 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
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