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?’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God addresses Ezekiel as "son of man" and commands him to report a specific lament to the exiled house of Israel. This instruction occurs immediately after a charge to warn the wicked and before a declaration of God's desire for repentance rather than death.

The words — The Hebrew כֵּן (ken) translates literally as "thus," marking the precise wording the people claim to use. The imperative אֱמֹר ('e.Mor) means "say," framing the prophet's task as delivering an exact quote of their despair.

The thread — The people's complaint about sins weighing them down and causing decay mirrors Leviticus 26:39, where survivors waste away in their iniquity. Their question about how to live stands in direct contrast to the divine reply in Ezekiel 33:11 that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but commands them to turn and live.

Why it lands — The text records a confession of guilt followed by a question of hopelessness, requiring the reader to face despair before the command to repent. It demands acknowledgment of sin's burden while immediately confronting the reader with the divine instruction to choose life through turning from evil.

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

וְאַתָּ֣הve./'a.Tahand/ you בֶן־ven-O son of אָדָ֗ם'a.Damhumankind אֱמֹר֙'e.Morsay אֶל־'el-to בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house of יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsrael כֵּ֤ןkenthus אֲמַרְתֶּם֙'a.mar.Temyou have said לֵאמֹ֔רle./Mor<to>/ saying כִּֽי־ki-that פְשָׁעֵ֥ינוּfe.sha.'Ei./nutransgressions/ our וְחַטֹּאתֵ֖ינוּve./cha.to.Tei./nuand/ sins/ our עָלֵ֑ינוּ'a.Lei./nu[are] on/ usוּבָ֛םu./Va/mand/ in/ themאֲנַ֥חְנוּ'a.Nach.nuwe נְמַקִּ֖יםne.ma.Kim[are] wasting away וְאֵ֥יךְve./'Eikhand/ how?נִֽחְיֶֽה׃Nich.Yehwill we live

King James Version

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

Cross-references

Isaiah 49:14 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
Ezekiel 37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
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 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.
Psalms 130:7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is loving devotion, and with Him is redemption in abundance.
Isaiah 51:20 Your sons have fainted; they lie at the head of every street, like an antelope in a net. They are full of the wrath of the LORD, the rebuke of your God.
Jeremiah 2:25 You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’