Books

Ezekiel 34

Amplified Bible, 2015 (AMP)

Back to Bible

Switch Version:

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

¹ Therefore now, O LORD, just take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."

² Then the LORD said, "Do you have a good reason to be angry?"

³ Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of it. There he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade so that he could see what would happen in the city.

⁴ So the LORD God prepared a[1] plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about [the protection of] the plant.

⁵ But God prepared a worm when morning dawned the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered.

⁶ When the sun came up God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he fainted and he wished to die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."

⁷ Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have a good reason to be angry about [the loss of] the plant?" And he said, "I have a [very] good reason to be angry, angry enough to die!"

⁸ Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.

⁹ Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?"

¹⁰ The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw [through divine revelation] concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

¹¹ Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen closely, O earth and all that is in it, And let the Lord GOD be witness [giving a testimony of the judgment] against you, The Lord from His holy temple [in the heavens].

¹² For behold, the LORD is coming down from His place He shall come down and tread [in judgment] on the high places of the earth.

¹³ The mountains shall melt under Him And the valleys shall be split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.

¹⁴ All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of[1] Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob? Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria? What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)? Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?

¹⁵ Therefore I [the LORD] shall make Samaria a[2] heap of ruins [and of stones and arable land] in the open country, A place for planting vineyards; And I will pour her stones down into the ravine And lay bare her foundations.

¹⁶ All her idols shall be broken in pieces, All her earnings [from her idolatry] shall be burned with fire, And all her images I shall make desolate; For from the earnings of a prostitute she collected them, And to the earnings of a prostitute they shall return.

¹⁷ Because of this I [Micah] must lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) and wail, I must go barefoot and naked [without outer garments as if robbed]; I must wail like the jackals And lament [with a loud, mournful cry] like the ostriches.

¹⁸ For Samaria's wound is incurable, For it has come to Judah; The enemy has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.

¹⁹ [3] Announce it not in Gath [in Philistia], Weep not at all [and in this way betray your grief to Gentiles]; In Beth-le-aphrah (House of Dust) roll in the dust [among your own people].

²⁰ Go on your way [into exile—stripped of beauty, disarmed], inhabitants of Shaphir (Beautiful), in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan (Go Out) does not go out [of the house]; The wailing of Beth-ezel (House of Removal) will take away from you its support.

²¹ For the inhabitant of Maroth (Bitterness) Writhes in pain [at its losses] and waits anxiously for good, Because a catastrophe has come down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.

²² Harness the chariot to the team of horses [to escape the invasion], O inhabitant of Lachish— She was the beginning of sin To the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)— Because in you were found The rebellious acts of Israel.

²³ Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath (Micah's home); The houses of Achzib (Place of Deceit) will become a deception To the kings of Israel.

²⁴ Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah (Prominent Place). The glory (nobility) of Israel will enter Adullam [seeking refuge].

²⁵ Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.

²⁶ Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness And plot evil on their beds! When morning comes, they practice evil Because it is in the power of their hands.

²⁷ They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.

²⁸ Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile) [Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks; Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect, For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].

²⁹ "On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against you And wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say, 'We are completely destroyed! God exchanges the inheritance of my people; How He removes it from me! He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].'

³⁰ "Therefore, you will have no one stretching a measuring line [dividing the common land] For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.

³¹ 'Do not speak out,' so they speak out. But if they do not speak out concerning these things, Reproaches will not be turned back.

#	AMP
1	Therefore now, O LORD, just take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live."
2	Then the LORD said, "Do you have a good reason to be angry?"
3	Then Jonah went out of the city and sat east of it. There he made himself a shelter and sat under its shade so that he could see what would happen in the city.
4	So the LORD God prepared a[1] plant and it grew up over Jonah, to be a shade over his head to spare him from discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about [the protection of] the plant.
5	But God prepared a worm when morning dawned the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered.
6	When the sun came up God prepared a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he fainted and he wished to die, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
7	Then God said to Jonah, "Do you have a good reason to be angry about [the loss of] the plant?" And he said, "I have a [very] good reason to be angry, angry enough to die!"
8	Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight.
9	Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 [innocent] persons, who do not know the difference between their right and left hand [and are not yet accountable for sin], as well as many [blameless] animals?"
10	The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw [through divine revelation] concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
11	Hear, O peoples, all of you; Listen closely, O earth and all that is in it, And let the Lord GOD be witness [giving a testimony of the judgment] against you, The Lord from His holy temple [in the heavens].
12	For behold, the LORD is coming down from His place He shall come down and tread [in judgment] on the high places of the earth.
13	The mountains shall melt under Him And the valleys shall be split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.
14	All this is because of the rebellion and apostasy of[1] Jacob And for the sins of the house of Israel (the Northern Kingdom). What is the rebellion and apostasy of Jacob? Is it not [the abandonment of God in order to worship the idols of] Samaria? What are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah (the Southern Kingdom)? Are they not Jerusalem [the capital and center of corruption]?
15	Therefore I [the LORD] shall make Samaria a[2] heap of ruins [and of stones and arable land] in the open country, A place for planting vineyards; And I will pour her stones down into the ravine And lay bare her foundations.
16	All her idols shall be broken in pieces, All her earnings [from her idolatry] shall be burned with fire, And all her images I shall make desolate; For from the earnings of a prostitute she collected them, And to the earnings of a prostitute they shall return.
17	Because of this I [Micah] must lament (mourn over with expressions of grief) and wail, I must go barefoot and naked [without outer garments as if robbed]; I must wail like the jackals And lament [with a loud, mournful cry] like the ostriches.
18	For Samaria's wound is incurable, For it has come to Judah; The enemy has reached the gate of my people, Even to Jerusalem.
19	[3] Announce it not in Gath [in Philistia], Weep not at all [and in this way betray your grief to Gentiles]; In Beth-le-aphrah (House of Dust) roll in the dust [among your own people].
20	Go on your way [into exile—stripped of beauty, disarmed], inhabitants of Shaphir (Beautiful), in shameful nakedness. The inhabitant of Zaanan (Go Out) does not go out [of the house]; The wailing of Beth-ezel (House of Removal) will take away from you its support.
21	For the inhabitant of Maroth (Bitterness) Writhes in pain [at its losses] and waits anxiously for good, Because a catastrophe has come down from the LORD To the gate of Jerusalem.
22	Harness the chariot to the team of horses [to escape the invasion], O inhabitant of Lachish— She was the beginning of sin To the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem)— Because in you were found The rebellious acts of Israel.
23	Therefore you will give parting gifts On behalf of Moresheth-gath (Micah's home); The houses of Achzib (Place of Deceit) will become a deception To the kings of Israel.
24	Moreover, I will bring on you The one who takes possession, O inhabitant of Mareshah (Prominent Place). The glory (nobility) of Israel will enter Adullam [seeking refuge].
25	Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hair For the children of your delight; Remain as bald as the eagle, For your children will be taken from you into exile.
26	Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickedness And plot evil on their beds! When morning comes, they practice evil Because it is in the power of their hands.
27	They covet fields and seize them, And houses, and take them away. They oppress and rob a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
28	Therefore, thus says the LORD, "Behold, I am planning against this family a disaster (exile) [Like a noose] from which you cannot remove your necks; Nor will you be able to walk haughtily and erect, For it will be an evil time [of subjugation to the invaders].
29	"On that day they shall take up a [taunting, deriding] parable against you And wail with a doleful and bitter song of mourning and say, 'We are completely destroyed! God exchanges the inheritance of my people; How He removes it from me! He divides our fields to the rebellious [our captors].'
30	"Therefore, you will have no one stretching a measuring line [dividing the common land] For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.
31	'Do not speak out,' so they speak out. But if they do not speak out concerning these things, Reproaches will not be turned back.

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Holy Bible

Ezekiel 34

Select Commentary