Ezekiel 24:23

Your turbans will remain on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but you will waste away because of your sins, and you will groan among yourselves.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled house of Israel as the siege of Jerusalem commences, designating the prophet's unbroken daily routine as a direct sign.

The words — The Hebrew תִסְפְּד֖וּ (tis.pe.Du) literally means "you must lament," while פְאֵרֵ/כֶם (fe.'e.re./Khem) refers to "your turbans" or head coverings that will remain undisturbed.

The thread — The pattern of surviving in a land while wasting away from iniquity without customary mourning runs through Leviticus 26:39 and Ezekiel 4:17.

Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that divine judgment suspends normal mourning rites, replacing them with a prolonged, unrelieved exposure to the physical and spiritual decay caused by rebellion.

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

וּפְאֵרֵכֶ֣םu./fe.'e.re./Khemand/ turbans/ your עַל־'al-[will be] on רָאשֵׁיכֶ֗םra.shei./Khemheads/ your וְנַֽעֲלֵיכֶם֙ve./na.'a.lei./Khemand/ sandals/ your בְּרַגְלֵיכֶ֔םbe./rag.lei./Khem[will be] on/ feet/ your לֹ֥אlo'not תִסְפְּד֖וּtis.pe.Duyou must lament וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not תִבְכּ֑וּtiv.Kuyou must weep וּנְמַקֹּתֶם֙u./ne.ma.ko.Temand/ you will waste away בַּעֲוֹנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔םba./'a.vo.No.tei./Khemin/ iniquities/ your וּנְהַמְתֶּ֖םu./ne.ham.Temand/ you will groan אִ֥ישׁ'isheach אֶל־'el-to אָחִֽיו׃'a.Chi/vbrother/ his

King James Version

And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.

Cross-references

Leviticus 26:39 Those of you who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away in their iniquity and will decay in the sins of their fathers.
Ezekiel 4:17 So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.
Ezekiel 33:10 Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: ‘Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?’
Job 27:15 His survivors will be buried by the plague, and their widows will not weep for them.
Psalms 78:64 His priests fell by the sword, but their widows could not lament.
Isaiah 59:11 We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.