Ezekiel 14:23

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done what I did to it.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Hebrew Names Version
They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord GOD.

King James Version
And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God .

English Standard Version
They will console you, when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, declares the Lord God ."

New American Standard Bible
"Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done without reason whatever I did to it," declares the Lord GOD.

New Century Version
You will be comforted when you see what happens to them for living as they did, because you will know there was a good reason for what I did to Jerusalem, says the Lord God ."

Amplified Bible
"Then they will reassure you [in regard to the appropriateness of the judgments] when you see their [heinous] conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done without cause whatever I did to it," declares the Lord GOD.

World English Bible
They shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And they shal comfort you, when yee see their way and their enterprises: & ye shal know, that I haue not done without cause all that I haue done in it, saith the Lorde God.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Then they will comfort you when you see their conduct and actions, for you will know that I have not done in vain whatever I did to it," declares the Lord GOD.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then they will comfort you when you see their way and actions, so you will know that I have not done in vain all that I did to it," declares Lord Yahweh.

Berean Standard Bible
They will bring you consolation when you see their conduct and actions, and you will know that it was not without cause that I have done all these things within it, declares the Lord GOD.'"

Contemporary English Version
You will be convinced that I, the Lord God, was right in doing what I did.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yes, they will console you when you see their way of life and how they act; and you will understand that it was not without good reason that I did what I did in [Yerushalayim]," says Adonai Elohim .

Darby Translation
And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Easy-to-Read Version
You will see how they live and all the bad things they do. Then you will know that I had a good reason for punishing them." This is what the Lord God said.

George Lamsa Translation
And they shall comfort you when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the LORD God.

Good News Translation
then you will know that there was good reason for everything I did." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

Lexham English Bible
And they will console you when you see their way and their deeds, and you will know that not for nothing I did all that I did in it," declares the Lord Yahweh.

Literal Translation
And they will comfort you when you see their way and their doings. And you will know that not in vain I have done all that I did in it, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They shall comforte you, when ye se their waye and workes: and ye shal knowe, how yt it is not without a cause, that I haue done so agaynst Ierusalem, as I dyd, saieth the LORDE God.

American Standard Version
And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Bible in Basic English
They will give you comfort when you see their ways and their doings: and you will be certain that not for nothing have I done all the things I have done in it, says the Lord.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings, and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.'

King James Version (1611)
And they shall comfort you when yee see their wayes and their doings: and ye shal know that I haue not done without cause, all that I haue done in it, saith the Lord God.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They shall comfort you when ye shal see their way and workes: and ye shall knowe howe that it is not without a cause that I haue done all against Hierusalem as I dyd, saith the Lorde God.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And they shall comfort you, because ye shall see their ways and their thoughts: and ye shall know that I have not done in vain all that I have done in it, saith the Lord.

English Revised Version
And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei schulen coumforte you, whanne ye schulen se the weie of hem and the fyndyngis of hem; and ye schulen knowe, that not in veyn Y dide alle thingis, what euer thingis Y dide there ynne, seith the Lord almyyti.

Update Bible Version
And they shall comfort you, when you see their way and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord Yahweh.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.

New English Translation
They 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 which I have done in it, declares the sovereign Lord ."

New King James Version
And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I have done in it," says the Lord GOD.

New Living Translation
When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken!"

New Life Bible
It will help you when you see how they act. Then you will know that there was a good reason for everything I did,' says the Lord God."

New Revised Standard
They shall console you, when you see their ways and their deeds; and you shall know that it was not without cause that I did all that I have done in it, says the Lord God .

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Yea they shall console you, when ye see their way and their doings, - So shall ye know that not without cause, have I done, anything that I have done with her, Declareth My Lord Yahweh.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they shall comfort you, when you shall see their ways, and their doings: and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God.

Revised Standard Version
They will console you, when you see their ways and their doings; and you shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, says the Lord GOD."

Young's Literal Translation
And they have comforted you, for ye see their way and their doings, and ye have known that not for nought have I done all that which I have done in her -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

Contextual Overview

¹² God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, when a country sins against me by living faithlessly and I reach out and destroy its food supply by bringing on a famine, wiping out humans and animals alike, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job—the Big Three—were alive at the time, it wouldn't do the population any good. Their righteousness would only save their own lives." Decree of God , the Master. ¹⁵"Or, if I make wild animals go through the country so that everyone has to leave and the country becomes wilderness and no one dares enter it anymore because of the wild animals, even if these three men were living there, as sure as I am the living God, neither their sons nor daughters would be rescued, but only those three, and the country would revert to wilderness. ¹⁷"Or, if I bring war on that country and give the order, ‘Let the killing begin!' leaving both people and animals dead, even if those three men were alive at the time, as sure as I am the living God, neither sons nor daughters would be rescued, but only these three. ¹⁹"Or, if I visit a deadly disease on that country, pouring out my lethal anger, killing both people and animals, and Noah, Daniel, and Job happened to be alive at the time, as sure as I am the living God, not a son, not a daughter, would be rescued. Only these three would be delivered because of their righteousness. ²¹"Now then, that's the picture," says God , the Master, "once I've sent my four catastrophic judgments on Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, disease—to kill off people and animals alike. But look! Believe it or not, there'll be survivors. Some of their sons and daughters will be brought out. When they come out to you and their salvation is right in your face, you'll see for yourself the life they've been saved from. You'll know that this severe judgment I brought on Jerusalem was worth it, that it had to be. Yes, when you see in detail the kind of lives they've been living, you'll feel much better. You'll see the reason behind all that I've done in Jerusalem." Decree of God , the Master.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that I have not: Ezekiel 8:6-18, Ezekiel 9:8, Ezekiel 9:9, Genesis 18:22-33, Deuteronomy 8:2, Nehemiah 9:33, Proverbs 26:2, Jeremiah 7:17-28, Jeremiah 22:8, Jeremiah 22:9, Daniel 9:7, Daniel 9:14, Romans 2:5, Revelation 15:4, Revelation 16:6

Reciprocal: Leviticus 26:44 - I will Deuteronomy 29:24 - General 2 Chronicles 7:22 - Because they forsook Nehemiah 9:31 - for thy great Psalms 59:11 - Slay Psalms 64:9 - they Isaiah 24:13 - there Isaiah 42:16 - and not Jeremiah 9:12 - for Lamentations 1:18 - hear Ezekiel 6:10 - General Ezekiel 12:16 - I will Ezekiel 16:54 - in that

Cross-References

1 Kings 13:8
The holy man told the king, "Not on your life! You couldn't pay me enough to get me to sit down with you at a meal in this place. I'm here under God 's orders, and he commanded, ‘Don't eat a crumb, don't drink a drop, and don't go back the way you came.'" Then he left by a different road than the one on which he had walked to Bethel.

2 Kings 5:16
"As God lives," Elisha replied, "the God whom I serve, I'll take nothing from you." Naaman tried his best to get him to take something, but he wouldn't do it.

2 Corinthians 12:14
Everything is in readiness now for this, my third visit to you. But don't worry about it; you won't have to put yourselves out. I'll be no more of a bother to you this time than on the other visits. I have no interest in what you have—only in you. Children shouldn't have to look out for their parents; parents look out for the children. I'd be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I'm loved?

Hebrews 13:5
Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings,.... Not that their sinful ways and doings would be comfortable to them, but either their acknowledgments of them, and repentance for them; or, seeing their dissolute manner of life, it would be a means of composing their minds, and making them easy under the providence; being now satisfied that God was just in bringing upon them all the evils he had, and that they were punished according to their deserts, and less than their sins deserved:

and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God; that there was just reason for it; that he was sufficiently provoked to do it; and that it was necessary it should be done, for his own honour, and the good of others.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jeremiah 14:0; Jeremiah 15:0 is a remarkable parallel to this prophecy. Here, as elsewhere, Ezekiel is commissioned to deliver to the exiles the same message which Jeremiah conveys to the inhabitants of Judaea. The answer discovers the nature of the questions which had been expressed or implied.

(1) Can God cast out a people who are holy unto Himself?

(2) Is it just to punish them with utter desolation?

The prophet answers:

(1) That when a people is so corrupt as to call down national judgment, individual piety shall save none but the individuals themselves.

(2) The corrupt condition of the people shall be made so manifest, that none will question the justice of God in dealing thus severely with them.

Ezekiel 14:12

Or, “When a land” - the case is first put in a general form, and then ism brought with increased force home to Jerusalem - “sinneth against me by trespassing grievously,” and I stretch out “mine hand upon it,” and break the staff of bread “thereof,” and send famine “upon it and” cut off “man and beast: though these three men” etc.

Ezekiel 14:14

Noah, Daniel, and Job - Three striking instances of men who, for their integrity, were delivered from the ruin which fell upon others. Some have thought it strange that Daniel, a contemporary, and still young, should have been classed with the two ancient worthies. But the account of him Daniel 2:0 shows, that by this time Daniel was a very remarkable man (compare Ezekiel 28:3), and the introduction of the name of a contemporary gives force and life to the illustration. There is in the order in which the names occur a kind of climax. Noah did not rescue the guilty world, but did carry forth with him his wife, sons, and sons’ wives. Daniel raised only a few, but he did raise three of his countrymen with him to honor. To Job was spared neither son nor daughter.

Ezekiel 14:22, Ezekiel 14:23

Ye shall be comforted ... - By a truer estimate of the dispensations of the Almighty. This visitation will be recognized as inevitable and just.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 14:23. Ye shall know that I have not done without cause — There is no part of the conduct of God towards man that is not dictated by the purest principles of justice, equity, and truth. He does nothing but what is right; and whatever is right to be done, that ought to be done. In God's justice there is no severity; in God's mercy there is no caprice. He alone doth all things well; for he is the Fountain of justice and mercy.