Bible Strands
Ezekiel 14:6
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the house of Israel. This command is issued to halt the spiritual estrangement caused by their idolatry.
The words — The Hebrew לָ/כֵ֞ן (la./Khen) translates literally as "therefore," establishing the command as a direct response to their estrangement. The imperative אֱמֹ֣ר ('e.Mor) means "say," framing the message as a formal divine declaration.
The thread — The call to abandon idols and repent echoes in Ezekiel 18:30, where God commands the house of Israel to repent before judging each by their ways. It also aligns with Isaiah 2:20 and Isaiah 30:22, which describe the physical casting away of silver and gold idols.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate behavioral and directional change: abandoning idol worship and turning faces from abominations. It requires the reader to recognize idolatry as a relational breach that must be actively reversed.
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
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall.
- Isaiah 2:20 In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship.
- Isaiah 30:22 So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”
- Lamentations 3:39 Why should any mortal man complain, in view of his sins?
- Ezekiel 36:31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
- James 4:8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- 1 Samuel 7:3 Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and Ashtoreths among you, prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only. And He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 1 Kings 8:47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
- Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- Jeremiah 8:5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.