Ezekiel 24:22

THE MESSAGE

"‘Then you'll do exactly as I've done. You'll perform none of the usual funeral rituals. You'll get dressed as usual and go about your work. No tears. But your sins will eat away at you from within and you'll groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be your example. The way he did it is the way you'll do it. "‘When this happens you'll recognize that I am God , the Master.'"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then you will do just as I have done: You will not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners.

Hebrew Names Version
You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

King James Version
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

English Standard Version
And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

New American Standard Bible
'And you will do just as I have done; you will not cover your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of other people.

New Century Version
When that happens, you are to act as I have: you are not to cover your face, and you are not to eat the food people eat when they are sad about a death.

Amplified Bible
'You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men.

World English Bible
You shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And ye shall doe as I haue done: ye shall not couer your lippes, neither shall ye eate the bread of men.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'You will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache and you will not eat the bread of men.

Legacy Standard Bible
And you will do as I have done; you will not cover your mustache, and you will not eat the bread of men.

Berean Standard Bible
Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.

Contemporary English Version
Then you will do the same things I have done. You will leave your face uncovered and refuse to eat the food that mourners usually eat.

Complete Jewish Bible
But you are to do as I have done — not cover your upper lips, not eat the food people prepare for mourners,

Darby Translation
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover the beard, neither eat the bread of men;

Easy-to-Read Version
But you will do the same things that I have done about my dead wife. You will not cover your mustache or eat the food people normally eat when someone dies.

George Lamsa Translation
And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor shall you eat the bread provided for mourners.

Good News Translation
Then you will do what I have done. You will not cover your faces or eat the food that mourners eat.

Lexham English Bible
and you shall do just as I did: You shall not cover your upper lip, and you shall not eat the bread of mourners.

Literal Translation
And you shall do as I have done. You shall not cover over the mustache, and you shall not eat the bread of men.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Like as I haue done, so shall ye do also: Ye shal not hyde youre faces, ye shal eate no mourners bred:

American Standard Version
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

Bible in Basic English
And you will do as I have done, not covering your lips or taking the food of those in grief.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your upper lips, nor eat the bread of men;

King James Version (1611)
And yee shall doe as I haue done: yee shall not couer your lips, nor eate the bread of men.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Like as I haue done, so shall ye do also: ye shall not couer your lippes, ye shall eate no mans bread.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not be comforted at their mouth, and ye shall not eat the bread of men.

English Revised Version
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And ye schulen do, as Y dide; ye schulen not hile mouthis with cloth, and ye schulen not ete the mete of weileris.

Update Bible Version
And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.

Webster's Bible Translation
And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover [your] lips, nor eat the bread of men.

New English Translation
Then you will do as I have done: You will not cover your lip or eat food brought by others.

New King James Version
And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man's bread of sorrow.

New Living Translation
Then you will do as Ezekiel has done. You will not mourn in public or console yourselves by eating the food brought by friends.

New Life Bible
Then you will do as I have done. You will not cover your face or eat the bread of those in sorrow.

New Revised Standard
And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your upper lip or eat the bread of mourners.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall ye do, as I have done. - The heard, shall ye not cover, And the bread of other men:, shall ye not eat;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And you shall do as I have done: you shall not cover your faces, nor shall you eat the meat of mourners.

Revised Standard Version
And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of mourners.

Young's Literal Translation
And ye have done as I have done, On the upper lip ye are not covered, And bread of men ye do not eat.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, I'm about to take from you the delight of your life—a real blow, I know. But, please, no tears. Keep your grief to yourself. No public mourning. Get dressed as usual and go about your work—none of the usual funeral rituals." ¹⁸ I preached to the people in the morning. That evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I'd been told. ¹⁹ The people came to me, saying, "Tell us why you're acting like this. What does it mean, anyway?" ²⁰So I told them, " God 's Word came to me, saying, ‘Tell the family of Israel, This is what God , the Master, says: I will desecrate my Sanctuary, your proud impregnable fort, the delight of your life, your heart's desire. The children you left behind will be killed. ²²"‘Then you'll do exactly as I've done. You'll perform none of the usual funeral rituals. You'll get dressed as usual and go about your work. No tears. But your sins will eat away at you from within and you'll groan among yourselves. Ezekiel will be your example. The way he did it is the way you'll do it. "‘When this happens you'll recognize that I am God , the Master.'" ²⁵"And you, son of man: The day I take away the people's refuge, their great joy, the delight of their life, what they've most longed for, along with all their children—on that very day a survivor will arrive and tell you what happened to the city. You'll break your silence and start talking again, talking to the survivor. Again, you'll be an example for them. And they'll recognize that I am God ."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 24:16, Ezekiel 24:17, Job 27:15, Psalms 78:64, Jeremiah 16:4-7, Jeremiah 47:3, Amos 6:9, Amos 6:10

Reciprocal: Leviticus 13:45 - put 2 Samuel 3:35 - cause Isaiah 30:20 - the bread Daniel 11:31 - they shall pollute Hosea 9:4 - as Micah 3:7 - cover

Cross-References

Genesis 24:2
Abraham spoke to the senior servant in his household, the one in charge of everything he had, "Put your hand under my thigh and swear by God —God of Heaven, God of Earth—that you will not get a wife for my son from among the young women of the Canaanites here, but will go to the land of my birth and get a wife for my son Isaac."

Genesis 24:9
So the servant put his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn oath.

Genesis 24:10
The servant took ten of his master's camels and, loaded with gifts from his master, traveled to Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor. Outside the city, he made the camels kneel at a well. It was evening, the time when the women came to draw water. He prayed, "O God , God of my master Abraham, make things go smoothly this day; treat my master Abraham well! As I stand here by the spring while the young women of the town come out to get water, let the girl to whom I say, ‘Lower your jug and give me a drink,' and who answers, ‘Drink, and let me also water your camels'—let her be the woman you have picked out for your servant Isaac. Then I'll know that you're working graciously behind the scenes for my master."

Genesis 24:15
It so happened that the words were barely out of his mouth when Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel whose mother was Milcah the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with a water jug on her shoulder. The girl was stunningly beautiful, a pure virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came back up. The servant ran to meet her and said, "Please, can I have a sip of water from your jug?"

Esther 5:1
Three days later Esther dressed in her royal robes and took up a position in the inner court of the palace in front of the king's throne room. The king was on his throne facing the entrance. When he noticed Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased to see her; the king extended the gold scepter in his hand. Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. The king asked, "And what's your desire, Queen Esther? What do you want? Ask and it's yours—even if it's half my kingdom!"

1 Peter 3:8
Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And ye shall do as I have done,.... When his wife died, and as he was ordered by the Lord; the meaning of Which they were now inquiring:

ye shall not cover your lips; as a token of mourning; nor use any other of their country rites and ceremonies, for fear of provoking their enemies, in whose hands they shall be:

nor eat the bread of men; or "of mourners", as the Targum; there shall be none to comfort them, or send bread to them; they shall all be alike mourners.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The death of Ezekiel’s wife took place in the evening of the same day that he delivered the foregoing prophecy. This event was to signify to the people that the Lord would take from them all that was most dear to them; and - owing to the extraordinary nature of the times - quiet lamentation for the dead, according to the usual forms of mourning, would be impossible.

Ezekiel 24:17

The priest in general was to mourn for his dead (Leviticus 21:1 ff); but Ezekiel was to be an exception to the rule. The “tire” was the priest’s mitre.

Eat not the bread of men - Food supplied for the comfort of the mourners.

Ezekiel 24:23

Pine away - Compare Leviticus 26:39. The outward signs of grief were a certain consolation. Their absence would indicate a heart-consuming sorrow.

Ezekiel 24:27

Ezekiel had been employed four years in foretelling the calamities about to come to pass. He had been utterly disregarded by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and received with apparent respect but with real incredulity by those in exile. Now until the city had been actually taken, the voice of prophecy should cease, so far as God’s people were concerned. Hence the intervening series of predictions relating to neighboring and foreign nations Ezek. 25–32. After which the prophet’s voice was again heard addressing his countrymen in their exile. This accounts for the apparently parenthetical character of the next eight chapters.