Bible Strands
Ezekiel 8:18
Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Ezekiel in the vision of Jerusalem’s idolatrous courts, responding to Judah’s escalated violence and deliberate provocation. The declaration follows the prophet’s observation of the people’s abominations and their ritual insult of turning away from the temple.
The words — The Hebrew תָּחֹס (ta.chos) literally means "to show pity" or "to spare," combined with לֹא (lo') "not" to form the negative declaration "I will not look on them with pity." The phrase אֶעֱשֶׂה בְחֵמָה (e'ese bechemah) translates directly to "I will act in rage."
The thread — This pattern of divine refusal to answer cries during judgment appears in Micah 3:4, Isaiah 1:15, and Jeremiah 11:11. Each passage links God’s silence to prior covenant violation and unrepentant ritual.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that persistent provocation exhausts divine patience and terminates intercession. It establishes that ritual noise cannot override the consequences of chosen 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
King James Version
Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
Cross-references
- Micah 3:4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
- Zechariah 7:13 And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
- Judges 10:13 But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you.
- Proverbs 1:28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- 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.’
- 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.”
- Luke 13:25 After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
- Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.