Bible Strands
Ezekiel 43:9
Now let them remove far from Me their prostitution and the funeral offerings for their kings, and I will dwell among them forever.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel following a declaration of judgment for Israel's prior idolatry and proximity to His sanctuary. The speaker commands the removal of specific defilements before promising perpetual divine presence.
The words — The imperative יְרַחֲקוּ (ye.ra.cha.ku) commands "let them put far away," paired with זְנוּתָם (ze.nu.tam) meaning "their prostitution." These terms specify the idolatrous practices and royal funerary rites that must be excised.
The thread — The promise of God dwelling among His people echoes Ezekiel 43:7 and the everlasting covenant of peace in Ezekiel 37:26, while the call to remove defilement aligns with the repentance demanded in Ezekiel 18:30.
Why it lands — The text demands the complete separation of worship from syncretism and royal idolatry as a prerequisite for divine presence. It requires the reader to recognize that proximity to God necessitates the removal of competing loyalties.
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
Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcases of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 37:26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
- Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Ezekiel 37:23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols or detestable images, or with any of their transgressions. I will save them from all their apostasies by which they sinned, and I will cleanse them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- Hosea 2:2 Rebuke your mother, rebuke her, for she is not My wife, and I am not her husband. Let her remove the adultery from her face and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.