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Sunday, August 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 15 / Ordinary 20
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Read the Bible

Good News Translation

Ezekiel 17:2

"Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Church;   Ezekiel;   Scofield Reference Index - Parables;   Thompson Chain Reference - Riddles;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Babylon;   Prophets;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Allegory;   Parable;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Riddle;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Fable;   Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ezekiel;   Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Parable;   Vine, Vineyard;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Proverb;   Riddle;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Parable;   Proverb;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Allegory in the Old Testament;   Poetry;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.
Hebrew Names Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Yisra'el;
King James Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
English Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
New American Standard Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and present a parable to the house of Israel,
New Century Version
"Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel.
Amplified Bible
"Son of man, ask a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel,
World English Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
Geneva Bible (1587)
Sonne of man, put foorth a parable and speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
Legacy Standard Bible
"Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
Berean Standard Bible
"Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel
Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel the following story,
Complete Jewish Bible
"Human being, propound this riddle, tell the house of Isra'el this allegory,
Darby Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,
Easy-to-Read Version
"Son of man, I have a story with a hidden meaning for you to tell the family of Israel.
George Lamsa Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
Lexham English Bible
"Son of man, tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel,
Literal Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou sonne of man: put forth a darcke speakynge and a parable, vnto the house of Israel,
American Standard Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
Bible in Basic English
Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel,
JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,
King James Version (1611)
Sonne of man, put foorth a riddle, and speake a parable vnto the house of Israel,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou sonne of man, put foorth a parable, & speake a prouerbe vnto the house of Israel,
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Son of man, relate a tale, and speak a parable to the house of Israel:
English Revised Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he seide, Sone of man, sette forth a derk speche, and telle thou a parable to the hous of Israel;
Update Bible Version
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
Webster's Bible Translation
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
New English Translation
"Son of man, offer a riddle, and tell a parable to the house of Israel.
New King James Version
"Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
New Living Translation
"Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel.
New Life Bible
"Son of man, give the people of Israel this picture-story to think about.
New Revised Standard
O mortal, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Son of man Put thou forth a riddle And speak thou a parable,- Unto the house of Israel:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
Revised Standard Version
"Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak an allegory to the house of Israel;
Young's Literal Translation
`Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,

Contextual Overview

1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 "Mortal man," he said, "tell the Israelites a parable 3 to let them know what I, the Sovereign Lord , am saying to them: There was a giant eagle with beautiful feathers and huge wings, spread wide. He flew to the Lebanon Mountains and broke off the top of a cedar tree, 4 which he carried to a land of commerce and placed in a city of merchants. 5 Then he took a young plant from the land of Israel and planted it in a fertile field, where there was always water to make it grow. 6 The plant sprouted and became a low, wide-spreading grapevine. The branches grew upward toward the eagle, and the roots grew deep. The vine was covered with branches and leaves. 7 "There was another giant eagle with huge wings and thick plumage. And now the vine sent its roots toward him and turned its leaves toward him, in the hope that he would give it more water than there was in the garden where it was growing. 8 But the vine had already been planted in a fertile, well-watered field so that it could grow leaves and bear grapes and be a magnificent vine. 9 "So I, the Sovereign Lord , ask: Will this vine live and grow? Won't the first eagle pull it up by its roots, pull off the grapes, and break off the branches and let them wither? It will not take much strength or a mighty nation to pull it up. 10 Yes, it is planted, but will it live and grow? Won't it wither when the east wind strikes it? Won't it wither there where it is growing?"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 20:49, Judges 9:8-15, Judges 14:12-19, 2 Samuel 12:1-4, Hosea 12:10, Matthew 13:13, Matthew 13:14, Matthew 13:35, Mark 4:33, Mark 4:34, 1 Corinthians 13:12

Reciprocal: Numbers 12:8 - dark speeches Numbers 23:7 - he took Jeremiah 23:5 - Branch Ezekiel 2:1 - Son Ezekiel 24:3 - utter Matthew 13:24 - put Mark 12:15 - Why Luke 14:7 - put

Cross-References

Genesis 9:9
"I am now making my covenant with you and with your descendants,
Genesis 12:2
I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous, so that you will be a blessing.
Genesis 13:16
I am going to give you so many descendants that no one will be able to count them all; it would be as easy to count all the specks of dust on earth!
Genesis 15:18
Then and there the Lord made a covenant with Abram. He said, "I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River,
Genesis 17:4
"I make this covenant with you: I promise that you will be the ancestor of many nations.
Genesis 17:6
I will give you many descendants, and some of them will be kings. You will have so many descendants that they will become nations.
Genesis 17:8
I will give to you and to your descendants this land in which you are now a foreigner. The whole land of Canaan will belong to your descendants forever, and I will be their God."
Genesis 17:11
From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. This will show that there is a covenant between you and me.
Genesis 17:17
Abraham bowed down with his face touching the ground, but he began to laugh when he thought, "Can a man have a child when he is a hundred years old? Can Sarah have a child at ninety?"
Genesis 17:18
He asked God, "Why not let Ishmael be my heir?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Son of man, put forth a riddle,.... A dark saying, but a smart one: "whet a whetting" k, as in the Hebrew; something at first sight difficult to be understood, yet amusing and entertaining; and, when solved, very useful and instructive:

and speak a parable unto the house of Israel; or, "concerning the house of Israel" l; as the Targum and Syriac version; something relating to them, and what would aptly describe and represent their case; for the prophet was bid to take such a method, not to hide things from them, but rather the more strongly to represent them to them; seeing hereby their attention would be excited, and things would be more fixed in their memories, and they would be put upon studying the meaning of them; and when explained to them, and understood, which was quickly done, they might be the more affected with them.

k חוד חידה, Heb. "acue acumen", Piscator. l אל בית ישראל "de domo Israelis", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 17:2. Son of man, put forth a riddle — Riddle, [Anglo-Saxon] or [A.S.], Anglo-Saxon, from [A.S.] to divine; a thing that must be curiously investigated and sifted, to find out the meaning; and hence, riddle, a sort of coarse sieve to clean corn, to separate coarse chaff and straws from the pure grain. An instrument formerly used for divination. This is not far removed from the Hebrew חידה chidah, from חד chad, to penetrate; not that which penetrates the mind, but which we must penetrate to find out the sense.


 
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