Ezekiel 33:25

English Standard Version

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God : You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with blood in it, look to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then receive possession of the land?

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?

King James Version
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God ; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

New American Standard Bible
"Therefore say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "You eat meat with the blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

New Century Version
So say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: You eat meat with the blood still in it, you ask your idols for help, and you murder people. Should you then have the land as your very own?

Amplified Bible
"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it and raise your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you take possession of the land?

World English Bible
Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?

Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore say vnto them, Thus saieth the Lorde God, Ye eate with the blood, and lift vp your eyes towarde your idoles, and sheade blood: should ye then possesse the land?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, "You eat meat with the blood in it and lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: 'You eat meat with the blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

Contemporary English Version
So, Ezekiel, tell them I am saying: How can you think the land is still yours? You eat meat with blood in it and worship idols. You commit murder

Complete Jewish Bible
Therefore, tell them that Adonai Elohim says, ‘You eat [flesh] with the blood, you raise your eyes to your idols, and you shed blood — and you still expect to possess the land?

Darby Translation
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land?

Easy-to-Read Version
"You must tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘You eat meat with the blood still in it. You look to your idols for help. You murder people, so why should I give you this land?

George Lamsa Translation
Therefore say to them, Thus says the LORD God: Because you eat meat with the blood and lift up your eyes toward your idols and drink blood, do you expect to inherit the land?

Good News Translation
"Tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord , am saying: You eat meat with the blood still in it. You worship idols. You commit murder. What makes you think that the land belongs to you?

Lexham English Bible
Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood in your meat, and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and yet you want to take possession of the land?

Literal Translation
So say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: You eat on the blood, and you lift your eyes up to your idols, and you shed blood. And shall you possess the land?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And therfore tell them: Thus saieth the LORDE: In the bloude haue ye eaten, youre eyes haue ye lift vp to Idols, and haue shed bloude: shal ye then haue the londe in possession?

American Standard Version
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

Bible in Basic English
For this cause say to them, This is what the Lord has said: You take your meat with the blood, your eyes are lifted up to your images, and you are takers of life: are you to have the land for your heritage?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wherefore say unto them: Thus saith the Lord GOD. Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood; and shall ye possess the land?

King James Version (1611)
Wherefore say vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Ye eate with the blood, and lift vp your eyes toward your idoles, and shed blood; and shal ye possesse the land?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And therefore tel them, thus saith the Lorde God, In the blood haue ye eaten, your eyes haue ye lift vp to idols, and haue shed blood: shall ye then haue the lande in possession?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
033

English Revised Version
Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor thou schalt seie to hem, The Lord God seith these thingis, Whether ye that eten in blood, and reisen youre iyen to youre vnclennessis, and scheden blood, schulen haue in possessioun the lond bi eritage?

Update Bible Version
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: You eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land?

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes towards your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land?

New English Translation
Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it, pray to your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess the land?

New King James Version
"Therefore say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD: "You eat meat with blood, you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess the land?

New Living Translation
So tell these people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat meat with blood in it, you worship idols, and you murder the innocent. Do you really think the land should be yours?

New Life Bible
So tell them, ‘The Lord God says, "You eat meat with the blood in it, and worship your false gods as you kill. Should the land belong to you?

New Revised Standard
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God : You eat flesh with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Wherefore say unto them Thus, saith My Lord. Yahweh. -With the blood, ye do eat. And your eyes, ye do lift up unto your manufactured gods. And blood, ye do shed; And the land, shall ye inherit?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?

Revised Standard Version
Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: You eat flesh with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: With the blood ye do eat, And your eyes ye lift up unto your idols, And blood ye shed, and the land ye inherit!

THE MESSAGE
"So tell them, ‘ God the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will—and you expect to own this land? You rely on the sword, you engage in obscenities, you indulge in sex at random—anyone, anytime. And you still expect to own this land?'

Contextual Overview

²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city has been struck down." ²² Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute. ²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁴ "Son of man, the inhabitants of these waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.' ²⁵ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God : You eat flesh with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood; shall you then possess the land? ²⁶ You rely on the sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? ²⁷ Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God : As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence. ²⁸ And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and her proud might shall come to an end, and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord , when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ye eat: Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 3:17, Leviticus 7:26, Leviticus 7:27, Leviticus 17:10-14, Leviticus 19:26, Deuteronomy 12:16, 1 Samuel 14:32-34, Acts 15:20, Acts 15:21, Acts 15:29, Acts 21:25

lift up: Ezekiel 18:6, Ezekiel 18:12, Ezekiel 18:15, Deuteronomy 4:19, Psalms 24:4, Jeremiah 44:15-19

and shed: Ezekiel 9:9, Ezekiel 22:6, Ezekiel 22:9, Ezekiel 22:27

shall ye: Jeremiah 7:9, Jeremiah 7:10

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 12:25 - that it Deuteronomy 15:23 - General 2 Kings 21:8 - only if they 2 Kings 24:4 - which 2 Chronicles 33:8 - so that they Ezekiel 34:3 - ye kill

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore say unto them, thus saith the Lord God,.... Send them this message in writing, as from the Lord; for the prophet was now in Chaldea, and could not deliver it by word of mouth to those that inhabited the wastes of Israel; but he could tell it to the messenger that came to him, who had escaped from Jerusalem; or send it by him, or some other:

ye eat with the blood; or rather "upon", or "by" the "blood" l; contrary to the law in Leviticus 19:26 which is a different law from that in Genesis 9:4, and from that in Leviticus 3:17 and refers to an idolatrous practice of the Heathens, which these Jews imitated; who, having slain and offered their sacrifices to devils, sat down round about the blood of them, and ate their food or part of their sacrifice by it, as Kimchi on the text observes. The account Maimonides m gives of the Zabians is this,

"you must know (says he) that the blood is reckoned very unclean and impure by the Zabians, yet is eaten by them, because they think it is the food of devils; and that he that eats it by this means obtains some communications with them; so that they converse familiarly with him, and reveal things future to him, which the vulgar commonly attribute to devils: notwithstanding there were some among them, with whom it seemed very grievous and difficult to eat blood (for it is a thing which the nature of man abhors); these used to slay some beast, and take its blood, and put it in a vessel, or in a hole dug in the earth, and eat the slain beast, sitting in a circle about the blood; imagining to themselves, in so doing, while they ate the flesh the devils ate the blood, and that this is their food; and by this means friendship, fraternity, and familiarity were contracted between them, because they all ate at one table, and sat on one seat; besides, they were of opinion that the devils appeared to them in dreams, and told them things to come, and were of much advantage to them;''

and accordingly it follows:

and lift up your eyes towards your idols; make your devotion, and pray unto them, and worship them, and expect help and assistance from them:

and shed blood; innocent blood, as the Targum; they were guilty of murder as well as of idolatry, or shedding of blood, in sacrifice to idols:

and shall ye possess the land? can such wretches as you, such gross idolaters and murderers, ever think that you are the children of Abraham, and have a right to the inheritance of this land, or shall long continue in the possession of it, living in such abominable iniquities as these?

l על הדם "super sanguinem", Munster, Montanus, Cocceius, Starckius; "juxta sanguinem"; so some in Vatablus. m Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 46. p. 484.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The exhortation to repentance. Ezekiel first addresses the remnant that still linger in their ancient home, and warns them against presumptuous hopes resting on false grounds Ezekiel 33:23-29; then he turns his eyes to those near him, and points out that their apparent attention to his words was illusory.

Ezekiel 33:24

Those wastes - The places in the holy land devastated by the conqueror.

Abraham - The argument is, Abraham was but one man, and he had the promise of the land, though he did not at once possess it; much more shall we, the descendants of Abraham, being many, retain this promise and possess the land, though for a time we are depressed and subject. Compare Matthew 3:9; John 8:33, John 8:39.

Ezekiel 33:25

To eat flesh with the blood was forbidden (see the marginal references). It seems to have been connected with the idolatries of Canaan. The prohibition was, on account of its connection with idolatry, continued in the enactment of the Council of Jerusalem Acts 15:29.

Ezekiel 33:26

Ye stand upon your sword - Ye put your trust in your swords.

Ezekiel 33:30-33

God warns the prophet against being misled by the compliance of the people.

Ezekiel 33:30

Against thee - Rather, about “thee.” “by the walls” Rather, within “the walls.”

Ezekiel 33:31

As the people cometh - literally, as in the margin, i. e., in crowds. Render it: they shall come “unto thee” like the coming of a people,” and” shall “sit before thee as My people” etc., i. e., they assume the attitude of God’s people listening to His prophet. Compare Ezekiel 14:1; Ezekiel 20:1.

Ezekiel 33:33

And when this - But when this.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 33:25. Ye eat with the blood — Abraham was righteous, ye are unrighteous. Eating of blood, in any way dressed, or of flesh from which the blood had not been extracted, was and is in the sight of God abominable. All such practices he has absolutely and for ever forbidden. Let the vile blood-eaters hear and tremble. Acts 15:20, and the passages in the margin.