“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.
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.
- KJV 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.
- 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.
- 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 who are sanctified of the sons of Zadok, who have kept my instruction, who didn’t go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
- Ezek 22:26Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
- 1 Tim 5:22Lay hands hastily on no one, neither be a participant in other men’s sins. Keep yourself pure.
- Ezek 44:15But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister to me; and they shall stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood, says the Lord Yahweh:
- 2 Kgs 23:8–9He 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 he broke down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance 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 9:34Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies with which you testified against them.
- Num 18:23But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance.
- Isa 53:11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.
- Gen 4:13Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
- Zeph 3:4Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.
- Lev 19:8but everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has profaned the holy thing of Yahweh, and that soul shall be cut off from his people.
- Jer 23:11for both prophet and priest are profane; yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says Yahweh.
- 2 Chr 29:4–5He brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the wide place on the east,
- Ps 38:4For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
- Num 5:31The man shall be free from iniquity, and that 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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