Ezekiel 14:8

I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to Israelites and foreigners who approach the prophet for guidance while secretly maintaining idolatry. This declaration follows God’s warning that He will personally answer such idolaters with judgment rather than revelation.

The words — פָנַ֜/י (fa.Na/i) = face/ my marks God’s active opposition, while לְ/א֣וֹת (le./'ot) = into/ a sign shows the man will become an object lesson. These terms ground the judgment in deliberate divine action rather than abstract punishment.

The thread — The motif of God setting His face against the rebellious appears in Ezekiel 15:7 and Jeremiah 44:11, where it precedes disaster and cutting off. Ezekiel 5:15 extends the pattern by describing the resulting nation as a reproach and taunt to surrounding peoples.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that approaching God while clinging to idols yields confrontation, not counsel. The reader must acknowledge that divine judgment serves to establish God's identity rather than merely punish.

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

וְנָתַתִּ֨יve./na.ta.Tiand/ I will set פָנַ֜יfa.Na/iface/ my בָּאִ֣ישׁba./'Ishon the/ person הַה֗וּאha./Hu'<the>/ that וַהֲשִֽׂמֹתִ֙יהוּ֙va./ha.si.mo.Ti./huand/ I will make/ him לְא֣וֹתle./'otinto/ a sign וְלִמְשָׁלִ֔יםve./li/m.sha.Limand/ into/ bywords וְהִכְרַתִּ֖יוve./hikh.ra.Ti/vand/ I will cut off/ him מִתּ֣וֹךְmi./Tokhfrom/ among עַמִּ֑י'a.M/ipeople/ my וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖םvi./da'.Temand/ you will know כִּֽי־ki-that אֲנִ֥י'a.NiI יְהוָֽה׃ סYah.weh[am] Yahweh

King James Version

And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 15:7 And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.
Jeremiah 44:11 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.
Ezekiel 5:15 So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.
Leviticus 17:10 If anyone from the house of Israel or a foreigner living among them eats any blood, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from among his people.
Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Isaiah 65:15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
Ezekiel 6:7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
Leviticus 20:3 And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.
Leviticus 22:3 Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.