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Do this also on the seventh day of the new year for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance. In this way, you will purify the Temple.
Ezekiel 45:20 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who errs, and for him who is simple: so you shall make atonement for the house.
  • KJV And so thou shalt do the seventh day of the month for every one that erreth, and for him that is simple: so shall ye reconcile the house.
  • BSB You must do the same thing on the seventh day of the month for anyone who strays unintentionally or in ignorance. In this way you will make atonement for the temple.
  • NKJV And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who has sinned unintentionally or in ignorance. Thus you shall make atonement for the temple.
  • NASB And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make atonement for the house.

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 same cleansing is repeated on the seventh day for those who sinned unintentionally, making atonement for the temple.

Overview

Provision is made specifically for sins of ignorance and simplicity, covering the whole community. God graciously accounts for human weakness, ensuring atonement even for unintended sin. This mercy toward the unwitting sinner anticipates the comprehensive cleansing found in Christ, whose atonement covers all our sin.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 7

  • Ps 19:12Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.
  • Ezek 45:15and one lamb of the flock, out of two hundred, from the well-watered pastures of Israel — for a meal offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ezek 45:18Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without defect; and you shall cleanse the sanctuary.
  • Lev 4:27–35“‘If anyone of the common people sins unwittingly, in doing any of the things which Yahweh has commanded not to be done, and is guilty;
  • Lev 16:20“When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat.
  • Rom 16:18–19For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
  • Heb 5:2The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded with weakness.

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 45:20YouTube · 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 45:20 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.