Ezekiel 20:1-9

New American Standard Bible

God’s Dealings with Israel Rehearsed

20 Now in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, men from the ^(A)elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and they sat before me. ² Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says: “Do you yourselves come to inquire of Me? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “^(B)I certainly will not be inquired of by you.”’ ⁴ Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? ^(C)Make known to them the abominations of their fathers; ⁵ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “On the day when I ^(D)chose Israel and ^[b]swore to the ^[c]descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I ^[d]swore to them, saying, ^(E)I am the Lord your God, ⁶ on that day I swore to them, ^(F)to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had ^[e]selected for them, ^(G)flowing with milk and honey, which is ^(H)the glory of all the lands. ⁷ And I said to them, ‘^(I)Throw away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and ^(J)do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; ^(K)I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸ But they ^(L)rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away, each of them, the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they abandon the ^(M)idols of Egypt.

“Then I ^[f]resolved to ^(N)pour out My wrath on them, to ^[g]use up My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted ^(O)for the sake of My name, that it would ^(P)not be defiled in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.