Ezekiel 20:39

And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The Lord GOD addresses the house of Israel immediately after pronouncing judgment on rebels who will not enter the land (Ezekiel 20:38). The declaration functions as a judicial pronouncement within a broader prophetic sequence tracing Israel's rebellion and future restoration.

The words — אֲדֹנָי יְהֹוִה ('a.do.Nai Yah.weh) literally means Lord Yahweh, anchoring the command in divine sovereignty, while אִישׁ ('ish) literally means "man" or "everyone," stressing individual participation in the idolatry.

The thread — This ironic command to pursue idols echoes the taunt in Judges 10:14 and parallels Isaiah's rejection of worthless offerings in Isaiah 1:13. It also continues Ezekiel's own theme of divine surrender to harmful statutes found in Ezekiel 20:25.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that persistent idolatry exhausts God's patience and forces a judicial withdrawal of grace. It requires the reader to see that defiling worship ultimately severs the covenant relationship until repentance restores the capacity to serve on God's holy mountain.

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

As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.

Cross-references

Judges 10:14 Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”
Isaiah 1:13 Bring your worthless offerings no more; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and convocations—I cannot endure iniquity in a solemn assembly.
Ezekiel 20:25 I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.
Ezekiel 43:7 and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever. The house of Israel will never again defile My holy name—neither they nor their kings—by their prostitution and by the funeral offerings for their kings at their deaths.
Hosea 4:17 Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!
2 Kings 3:13 Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
Psalms 81:12 So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
Isaiah 66:3 Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.
Jeremiah 7:9 Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,