Bible Strands
Ezekiel 7:4
I will not look on you with pity, nor will I spare you, but I will punish you for your ways and for the abominations among you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through the prophet Ezekiel to the house of Israel during the immediate onset of national collapse. The declaration follows the announcement that judgment is already active (Ezekiel 7:3) and directly precedes the warning of unprecedented disaster (Ezekiel 7:5).
The words — The verbs תָח֥וֹס (ta.chos) and אֶחְמ֑וֹל (ech.mol) both denote looking upon someone with compassion or showing pity. The text explicitly states God will not look on the people with pity nor spare them, but will actively punish them for their ways and abominations.
The thread — The pattern of divine punishment followed by the explicit purpose of revealing God's identity runs through Ezekiel 6:7, where the slain will fall so they will know I am the LORD. The refusal to pardon abominations and defiled conduct aligns with the warnings in Ezekiel 5:11 and 11:21 regarding sanctuary desecration and pursued detestable things.
Why it lands — The text requires the audience to accept that judgment will proceed without mitigation, regardless of their status. It demands that readers recognize divine punishment as the mechanism by which God's identity is established, not as a reaction to human merit.
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
And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 6:7 The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the LORD.
- Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
- Ezekiel 11:21 But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Ezekiel 6:14 I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
- Ezekiel 7:27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and I will judge them by their own standards. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
- Ezekiel 9:10 But as for Me, I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. I will bring their deeds down upon their own heads.”
- Ezekiel 16:43 Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?
- Hosea 9:7 The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.
- Hosea 12:2 The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah. He will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds.
- Jeremiah 13:14 I will smash them against one another, fathers and sons alike, declares the LORD. I will allow no mercy or pity or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.’”