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Ezekiel 14-15

Well-Deserved Judgment

14 Then some men from Israel’s elders came to me and sat down in front of me. ²The Lord’s message came to me: ³“Son of man, these men have erected their idols in their hearts and placed the obstacle leading to their iniquity^[a] right before their faces. Should I really allow them to seek^[b] me? ⁴Therefore speak to them and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When anyone from the house of Israel erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally according to the enormity of his idolatry.^[c] ⁵I will do this in order to capture the hearts of the house of Israel, who have alienated themselves from me on account of all their idols.’

⁶“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Return! Turn from your idols, and turn your faces away from your abominations. ⁷For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the resident foreigner^[d] who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally. ⁸I will set my face against that person and will make him an object lesson and a byword^[e] and will cut him off from among my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁹“‘As for the prophet, if he is made a fool by being deceived into speaking a prophetic word—I, the Lord, have made a fool of^[f] that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰They will bear their punishment;^[g] the punishment of the one who sought an oracle will be the same as the punishment of the prophet who gave it^[h] ¹¹so that the house of Israel will no longer go astray from me, nor continue to defile themselves by all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God,^[i] declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

¹²The Lord’s message came to me: ¹³“Son of man, suppose a country sins against me by being unfaithful, and I stretch out my hand against it, cut off its bread supply,^[j] cause famine to come on it, and kill both people and animals. ¹⁴Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel,^[k] and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵“Suppose I were to send wild animals through the land and kill its children, leaving it desolate, without travelers due to the wild animals. ¹⁶Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own lives, and the land would become desolate.

¹⁷“Or suppose I were to bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’ and I were to kill both people and animals. ¹⁸Even if these three men were in it, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, they could not save their own sons or daughters—they would save only their own lives.

¹⁹“Or suppose I were to send a plague into that land and pour out my rage on it with bloodshed, killing both people and animals. ²⁰Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, they could not save their own son or daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.

²¹“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—to Jerusalem to kill both people and animals! ²²Yet some survivors will be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their behavior and their deeds, you will be consoled about the catastrophe I have brought on Jerusalem—for everything I brought on it. ²³They will console you when you see their behavior and their deeds, because you will know that it was not without reason that I have done everything that I have done in it, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Burning a Useless Vine

15 The Lord’s message came to me: ²“Son of man, of all the woody branches among the trees of the forest, what happens to the wood of the vine?^[l] ³Can wood be taken from it to make anything useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴No!^[m] It is thrown in the fire for fuel; when the fire has burned up both ends of it and it is charred in the middle, will it be useful for anything? ⁵Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

⁶“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Like the wood of the vine is among the trees of the forest that I have provided as fuel for the fire—so I will provide the residents of Jerusalem as fuel.^[n] ⁷I will set^[o] my face against them—although they have escaped from the fire,^[p] the fire will still consume them! Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. ⁸I will make^[q] the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Footnotes

Ezekiel 14:3 tn Heb “the stumbling block of their iniquity.” This phrase is unique to the prophet Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 14:3 tn Or “I will not reveal myself to them.” The Hebrew word is used in a technical sense here of seeking an oracle from a prophet (2 Kgs 1:16; 3:11; 8:8).
Ezekiel 14:4 tn Heb “in accordance with the multitude of his idols.”
Ezekiel 14:7 sn The ger (גֵּר) “resident foreigner” had a different status in different countries. In Israel the foreigners going by this term are (or are supposed to be) fully integrated into Israel’s social fabric and worshipers of Yahweh. Such an attachment to the Lord is a prior condition to the possibility of separating from the Lord. See also the notes at Exod 12:19 and Deut 29:11.
Ezekiel 14:8 tn Heb “proverbs.”
Ezekiel 14:9 tn The translation is uncertain due to difficulty both in determining the meaning of the verb’s stem and its conjugation in this context. In the Qal stem the basic meaning of the verbal root פָּתַה (patah) is “to be gullible, foolish.” The doubling stems (the Pual and Piel used in this verse) typically give such stative verbs a factitive sense, hence either “make gullible” (i.e., “entice”) or “make into a fool” (i.e., “to show to be a fool”). The latter represents the probable meaning of the term in Jer 20:7, 10 and is followed here (see L. C. Allen, Ezekiel [WBC], 1:193; R. Mosis “Ez 14, 1-11 - ein Ruf zur Umkehr,” BZ 19 [1975]: 166-69; and ThWAT 4:829-31). In this view, if a prophet speaks when not prompted by God, he will be shown to be a fool, but this does not reflect negatively on the Lord because it is God who shows him to be a fool. Secondly, the verb is in the perfect conjugation and may be translated as “I have made a fool of him” or “I have enticed him,” or to show determination (see IBHS 439-41 §27.2f and g), or in certain syntactical constructions as future. Any of these may be plausible if the doubling stems used are understood in the sense of “making a fool of.” But if understood as “to make gullible,” more factors come into play. As the Hebrew verbal form is a perfect, it is often translated as present perfect: “I have enticed.” In this case the Lord states that he himself enticed the prophet to cooperate with the idolaters. Such enticement to sin would seem to be a violation of God’s moral character, but sometimes he does use such deception and enticement to sin as a form of punishment against those who have blatantly violated his moral will (see, e.g., 2 Sam 24). If one follows this line of interpretation in Ezek 14:9, one would have to assume that the prophet had already turned from God in his heart. However, the context gives no indication of this. Therefore, it is better to take the perfect as indicating certitude and to translate it with the future tense: “I will entice.” In this case the Lord announces that he will judge the prophet appropriately. If a prophet allows himself to be influenced by idolaters, then the Lord will use deception as a form of punishment against that deceived prophet. A comparison with the preceding oracles also favors this view. In 14:4 the perfect of certitude is used for emphasis (see “I will answer”), though in v. 7 a participle is employed. For a fuller discussion of this text, see R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “Does God Deceive?” BSac 155 (1998): 23-25.
Ezekiel 14:10 tn Or “They will bear responsibility for their iniquity.” The Hebrew term “iniquity” (three times in this verse) often refers by metonymy to the consequence of sin (see Gen 4:13).
Ezekiel 14:10 tn Or “As is the guilt of the inquirer, so is the guilt of the prophet.”
Ezekiel 14:11 sn I will be their God. See Exod 6:7; Lev 26:12; Jer 7:23; 11:4.
Ezekiel 14:13 tn Heb “break its staff of bread.”
Ezekiel 14:14 sn Traditionally this has been understood as a reference to the biblical Daniel, though he was still quite young when Ezekiel prophesied. One wonders if he had developed a reputation as an intercessor by this point. For this reason some prefer to see a reference to a ruler named Danel, known in Canaanite legend for his justice and wisdom. In this case all three of the individuals named would be non-Israelites, however the Ugaritic Danel is not known to have qualities of faith in the Lord that would place him in the company of the other men. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:447-50.
Ezekiel 15:2 tn Most modern translations take the statement as a comparison (“how is vine wood better than any forest wood?”) based on the preposition מִן (min). But a comparison should have a word as an adjective or stative verb designating a quality, i.e., a word for “good/better” is lacking. The preposition is translated above in its partitive sense.sn Comparing Israel to the wood of the vine may focus on Israel’s inferiority to the other nations. For the vine imagery in relation to Israel and the people of God, see Ps 80:8-13; John 15:1-7; Rom 11:17-22.
Ezekiel 15:4 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws one’s attention to something. Sometimes it may be translated as a verb of perception; here it is treated as a particle that fits the context (so also in v. 5, but with a different English word).
Ezekiel 15:6 tn The words “as fuel” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
Ezekiel 15:7 tn The word translated “set” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in the previous verse.
Ezekiel 15:7 sn This escape refers to the exile of Ezekiel and others in 597 b.c. (Ezek 1:2; 2 Kgs 24:10-16).
Ezekiel 15:8 tn The word translated “make” is the same Hebrew word translated as “provide” in v. 6.

James 2

Prejudice and the Law of Love

2 My brothers and sisters,^[a] do not show prejudice^[b] if you possess faith^[c] in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.^[d] ²For if someone^[e] comes into your assembly^[f] wearing a gold ring and fine clothing, and a poor person enters in filthy clothes, ³do you pay attention to the one who is finely dressed and say,^[g] “You sit here in a good place,”^[h] and to the poor person, “You stand over there,” or “Sit on the floor”?^[i] ⁴If so, have you not made distinctions^[j] among yourselves and become judges with evil motives?^[k] ⁵Listen, my dear brothers and sisters!^[l] Did not God choose the poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who love him? ⁶But you have dishonored the poor!^[m] Are not the rich oppressing you and dragging you into the courts? ⁷Do they not blaspheme the good name of the one you belong to?^[n] ⁸But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture,^[o] “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,”^[p] you are doing well. ⁹But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.^[q] ¹⁰For the one who obeys the whole law but fails^[r] in one point has become guilty of all of it.^[s] ¹¹For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,”^[t] also said, “Do not murder.”^[u] Now if you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a violator of the law. ¹²Speak and act as those who will be judged by a law that gives freedom.^[v] ¹³For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over^[w] judgment.

Faith and Works Together

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters,^[x] if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can this kind of faith^[y] save him?^[z] ¹⁵If a brother or sister^[aa] is poorly clothed and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm and eat well,” but you do not give them what the body needs,^[ab] what good is it? ¹⁷So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.”^[ac] Show me your faith without works and I will show you faith by^[ad] my works. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; well and good.^[ae] Even the demons believe that—and tremble with fear.^[af]

²⁰But would you like evidence,^[ag] you empty fellow,^[ah] that faith without works is useless?^[ai] ²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? ²²You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,”^[aj] and he was called God’s friend.^[ak] ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

Footnotes

James 2:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
James 2:1 tn Or “partiality.”
James 2:1 tn Grk “do not have faith with personal prejudice,” with emphasis on the last phrase.
James 2:1 tn Grk “our Lord Jesus Christ of glory.” Here δόξης (doxēs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.
James 2:2 tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anēr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” But as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, “equivalent to τὶς someone.”
James 2:2 tn Grk “synagogue.” Usually συναγωγή refers to Jewish places of worship (e.g., Matt 4:23, Mark 1:21, Luke 4:15, John 6:59). The word can be used generally to refer to a place of assembly, and here it refers specifically to a Christian assembly (BDAG 963 s.v. 2.b.).
James 2:3 tn Grk “and you pay attention…and say,” continuing the “if” clauses from v. 2. In the Greek text, vv. 2-4 form one long sentence.
James 2:3 tn Or “sit here, please.”
James 2:3 tn Grk “sit under my footstool.” The words “on the floor” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the modern reader the undesirability of this seating arrangement (so also TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). Another option followed by a number of translations is to replace “under my footstool” with “at my feet” (NAB, NIV, NRSV).
James 2:4 tn Grk “have you not made distinctions” (as the conclusion to the series of “if” clauses in vv. 2-3).
James 2:4 tn Grk “judges of evil reasonings.”
James 2:5 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
James 2:6 tn This is singular: “the poor person,” perhaps referring to the hypothetical one described in vv. 2-3.
James 2:7 tn Grk “that was invoked over you,” referring to their baptism in which they confessed their faith in Christ and were pronounced to be his own. To have the Lord’s name “named over them” is OT imagery for the Lord’s ownership of his people (cf. 2 Chr 7:14; Amos 9:12; Isa 63:19; Jer 14:9; 15:16; Dan 9:19; Acts 15:17).
James 2:8 tn Grk “according to the scripture.”
James 2:8 sn A quotation from Lev 19:18 (also quoted in Matt 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Rom 13:9; Gal 5:14).
James 2:9 tn Or “transgressors.”
James 2:10 tn Or “stumbles.”
James 2:10 tn Grk “guilty of all.”
James 2:11 sn A quotation from Exod 20:14 and Deut 5:18.
James 2:11 sn A quotation from Exod 20:13 and Deut 5:17.
James 2:12 tn Grk “a law of freedom.”
James 2:13 tn Grk “boasts against, exults over,” in victory.
James 2:14 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.
James 2:14 tn Grk “the faith,” referring to the kind of faith just described: faith without works. The article here is anaphoric, referring to the previous mention of the noun πίστις (pistis) in the verse. See ExSyn 219.
James 2:14 sn The form of the question in Greek expects a negative answer.
James 2:15 tn It is important to note that the words ἀδελφός (adelphos) and ἀδελφή (adelphē) both occur in the Greek text at this point, confirming that the author intended to refer to both men and women. See the note on “someone” in 2:2.
James 2:16 tn Grk “what is necessary for the body.”
James 2:18 tn There is considerable doubt about where the words of the “someone” end and where James’ reply begins. Some see the quotation running to the end of v. 18; others to the end of v. 19. But most punctuate as shown above. The “someone” is then an objector, and the sense of his words is something like, “Some have faith; others have works; don’t expect everyone to have both.” James’ reply is that faith cannot exist or be seen without works.
James 2:18 tn Or “from.”
James 2:19 tn Grk “you do well.”
James 2:19 tn Grk “believe and tremble.” The words “with fear” are implied.
James 2:20 tn Grk “do you want to know.”
James 2:20 tn Grk “O empty man.” Here the singular vocative ἄνθρωπε (anthrōpe, “man”) means “person” or even “fellow.” Cf. BDAG 82 s.v. ἄνθρωπος 8 which views this as an instance of rhetorical address in a letter; the pejorative sense is also discussed under the previous heading (7).
James 2:20 tc Most witnesses, including several significant ones (א A C² P Ψ 5 33 81 436 442 1611 1735 1852 2344 2492 M al sy bo), have νεκρά (nekra, “dead”) here, while P⁷⁴ reads κενή (kenē, “empty”). Both variants are most likely secondary, derived from ἀργή (argē, “useless”). The reading of the majority is probably an assimilation to the statements in vv. 17 and 26, while P⁷⁴’s reading picks up on κενέ (kene) earlier in the verse. The external evidence (B C* 323 945 1175 1243 1739 sa) for ἀργή is sufficient for authenticity; coupled with the strong internal evidence for the reading (if νεκρά were original, how would ἀργή have arisen here and not in vv. 17 or 26?), it is strongly preferred.
James 2:23 sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.
James 2:23 sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”

New English Translation (NET)

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Old/New Testament

Well-Deserved Judgment

Burning a Useless Vine

Footnotes

Prejudice and the Law of Love

Faith and Works Together

Footnotes