Bible Strands
Ezekiel 14:5
so that I may take hold of the hearts of the people of Israel. For because of their idols, they are all estranged from Me.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through Ezekiel to the elders of Israel who have gathered to inquire of Him, immediately after warning that He will answer those who approach while harboring idols.
The words — תְּפֹ֥שׂ (te.Fos) translates to “to capture,” and נָזֹ֙רוּ֙ (na.Zo.ru) means “they have become estranged,” describing the mechanism and result of their separation from God.
The thread — This pattern of divine confrontation over abandoned covenant loyalty appears in Isaiah 1:4 and Deuteronomy 32:15, where the text records the people forsaking or abandoning the God who made them.
Why it lands — The text identifies idolatry as the direct cause of relational separation and commands a concrete turning of faces and hearts away from those abominations.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 1:4 Alas, O sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who act corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD; they have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.
- Zechariah 11:8 And in one month I dismissed three shepherds. My soul grew impatient with the flock, and their souls also detested me.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
- Jeremiah 2:5 This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves.
- Jeremiah 2:11 Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- Jeremiah 2:31 You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’?
- Ezekiel 14:9 But if the prophet is enticed to speak a message, then it was I the LORD who enticed him, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
- Hosea 10:2 Their hearts are devious; now they must bear their guilt. The LORD will break down their altars and demolish their sacred pillars.
- Zechariah 7:11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing.
- Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.