Back to Ezekiel 11

Ezekiel 11:7-12

“ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you will be brought out of the middle of it. You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord Yahweh. “I will bring you out of the middle of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. You will fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. This will not be your cauldron, neither will you be the meat in the middle of it. I will judge you in the border of Israel. You will know that I am Yahweh, for you have not walked in my statutes, You have not executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.” ’ ”

World English Bible · Public Domain

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Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you will be brought out of the middle of it.

    You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you,” says the Lord Yahweh.

    “I will bring you out of the middle of it, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

    You will fall by the sword. I will judge you in the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

    This will not be your cauldron, neither will you be the meat in the middle of it. I will judge you in the border of Israel.

    You will know that I am Yahweh, for you have not walked in my statutes, You have not executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you.” ’ ”

  • KJV King James Version

    Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

    Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

    And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

    Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

    This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:

    And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.

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  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron; but ye shall be brought forth out of the midst of it.

    Ye have feared the sword; and the sword will I bring upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

    And I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

    Ye shall fall by the sword: I will judge you upon the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

    Though this city shall not be your caldron, ye shall be the flesh in the midst thereof; I will judge you upon the border of Israel;

    and ye shall know that I am the LORD; for ye have not walked in My statutes, neither have ye executed Mine ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you.'

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Cross-references (84)

  • Ezekiel 5:8 (v9) therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
  • Ezekiel 8:10 (v12) So I went in and looked, and saw every form of creeping things, abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed…
  • Ezekiel 11:3 (v11) who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. This is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’
  • Deuteronomy 28:36 (v9) Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There…
  • 2 Kings 14:25 (v10) He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to Yahweh, the God of Israel’s word, which…
Show all 82 cross-references
  • Psalms 106:41 (v9) He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them.
  • Proverbs 10:24 (v8) What the wicked fear, will overtake them, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
  • Ezekiel 8:14 (v12) Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and I saw the women sit there weeping for Tammuz.
  • Ezekiel 8:16 (v12) He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and I saw at the door of Yahweh’s temple, between the porch and the altar, there were…
  • Ezekiel 24:3-13 (v7) Utter a parable to the rebellious house, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says, “Put the cauldron on the fire. Put it on, and also pour…
  • Micah 3:2-3 (v7) You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones; who also eat the flesh of my…
  • Jeremiah 39:6 (vv9–10) Then the king of Babylon killed Zedekiah’s sons in Riblah before his eyes. The king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah.
  • Jeremiah 52:24-27 (vv7, 10) The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold: and out of…
  • Deuteronomy 28:49-50 (v9) Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not…
  • 2 Kings 25:18-22 (v7) The captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the threshold; and out of the…
  • 2 Kings 25:19-21 (v10) and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king’s face, who were found in…
  • Job 3:25 (v8) For the thing which I fear comes on me, That which I am afraid of comes to me.
  • Psalms 106:35-39 (v12) but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed…
  • Isaiah 24:17-18 (v8) Fear, the pit, and the snare, are on you who inhabit the earth. It will happen that he who flees from the noise of the fear will fall into…
  • Isaiah 66:4 (v8) I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears on them; because when I called, no one answered; when I spoke, they didn’t…
  • Jeremiah 52:9-10 (v10) Then they took the king, and carried him up to the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; and he pronounced judgment on him. The…
  • Ezekiel 6:7 (v10) The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.
  • Ezekiel 16:41 (v9) They will burn your houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women. I will cause you to cease from playing the…
  • Leviticus 18:3 (v12) You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing…
  • Leviticus 18:24-28 (v12) “ ‘Don’t defile yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations which I am casting out before you were defiled. The land…
  • Leviticus 26:40 (v12) “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that…
  • Numbers 34:8-9 (v10) From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and…
  • Deuteronomy 12:30-31 (v12) be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and that you not inquire after their gods,…
  • Joshua 13:5 (v10) and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the sunrise, from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath;
  • 1 Kings 8:65 (v10) So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt,…
  • 1 Kings 11:33 (v12) because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god…
  • 2 Kings 16:3 (v12) But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yes, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the…
  • 2 Kings 16:10-11 (v12) King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah…
  • 2 Kings 17:11-23 (v12) and there they burned incense in all the high places, as the nations whom Yahweh carried away before them did; and they did wicked things…
  • 2 Kings 18:12 (v12) because they didn’t obey Yahweh their God’s voice, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded, and…
  • 2 Kings 21:2 (v12) He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.
  • 2 Kings 21:22 (v12) and he abandoned Yahweh, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of Yahweh.
  • 2 Kings 24:4 (v9) and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
  • 2 Chronicles 13:9 (v12) Haven’t you driven out the priests of Yahweh, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves according to the ways of…
  • 2 Chronicles 28:3 (v12) Moreover he burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the…
  • 2 Chronicles 33:2-9 (v12) He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, after the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel. For…
  • 2 Chronicles 36:14 (v12) Moreover all the chiefs of the priests, and the people, trespassed very greatly after all the abominations of the nations; and they…
  • Ezra 9:7 (v12) Since the days of our fathers we have been exceedingly guilty to this day; and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests, have been…
  • Nehemiah 9:34 (v12) Also our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law, nor listened to your commandments and your testimonies…
  • Nehemiah 9:36-37 (v9) “Behold, we are servants today, and as for the land that you gave to our fathers to eat its fruit and its good, behold, we are servants in…
  • Job 20:24 (v8) He will flee from the iron weapon. The bronze arrow will strike him through.
  • Psalms 9:16 (v10) Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands.
  • Psalms 78:10 (v12) They didn’t keep God’s covenant, and refused to walk in his law.
  • Psalms 106:30 (v9) Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped.
  • Ecclesiastes 8:11 (v9) Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
  • Isaiah 30:16-17 (v8) but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses;” therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift;” therefore those who pursue you…
  • Jeremiah 5:15-17 (v9) Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far away, house of Israel,” says Yahweh. “It is a mighty nation. It is an ancient nation, a…
  • Jeremiah 6:16 (v12) Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for…
  • Jeremiah 9:24 (v10) But let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice,…
  • Jeremiah 10:2 (v12) Yahweh says, “Don’t learn the way of the nations, and don’t be dismayed at the signs of the sky; for the nations are dismayed at them.
  • Jeremiah 38:19-23 (v8) Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and…
  • Jeremiah 42:14-16 (v8) saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread;…
  • Jeremiah 44:12-13 (v8) I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to live there, and they will all be consumed. They…
  • Ezekiel 3:9-11 (v7) I have made your forehead as a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a…
  • Ezekiel 5:10 (v9) Therefore the fathers will eat the sons within you, and the sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you; and I will…
  • Ezekiel 5:15 (v9) So it will be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I execute judgments on…
  • Ezekiel 11:7-10 (v11) “ ‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the middle of it, they are the meat, and this is the cauldron; but you…
  • Ezekiel 11:21 (v12) But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own…
  • Ezekiel 13:9 (v10) “My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who utter lying divinations. They will not be in the council of my people,…
  • Ezekiel 13:14 (v10) So I will break down the wall that you have plastered with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be…
  • Ezekiel 13:21 (v10) I will also tear your kerchiefs, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they will be no more in your hand to be hunted. Then you will…
  • Ezekiel 13:23 (v10) Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. Then you will know that…
  • Ezekiel 16:38 (v9) I will judge you, as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of wrath and jealousy.
  • Ezekiel 16:44-47 (v12) “ ‘ “Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you, saying, ‘As is the mother, so is her daughter.’ You are the…
  • Ezekiel 18:9 (v12) has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live,” says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Ezekiel 20:16 (v12) because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
  • Ezekiel 20:21 (v12) “ ‘ “But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and didn’t keep my ordinances to do them, which if a man does,…
  • Ezekiel 20:24 (v12) because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their…
  • Ezekiel 21:31 (v9) I will pour out my indignation on you. I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath. I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men,…
  • Ezekiel 30:19 (v9) Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”
  • Daniel 9:10 (v12) We haven’t obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
  • Amos 9:1-4 (v8) I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in…
  • John 5:27 (v9) He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man.
  • John 11:48 (v8) If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
  • Romans 13:4 (v9) for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a…
  • 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 (v8) who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us…
  • Jude 1:15 (v9) to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of…

82 distinct cross-references across this passage (84 total citations).

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (18 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv8, 12 We ought to join these verses together, because the…

We ought to join these verses together, because the Prophet treats the same thing in many words. First he denounces that they should perish by the sword since they feared the sword By these words he admonishes them, that even if God should draw them out of the city, yet Jeremiah’s prophecy would prove true, since the Chaldeans would consume them as if the pot was boiling on the fire. Lastly, he shows how frivolous was their cavil when they said, “if we are flesh, we shall remain in the caldron.” But the Prophet shows that they must not cavil like children with God, because when he showed the caldron to his servant Jeremiah, he meant nothing else than that the Jews should perish, since the Chaldeans would come to consume them. But they had purposely perverted the Prophet’s sense, and thought themselves clever and shrewd when they corrupted the heavenly doctrine. First of all the Prophet says, ye have feared the sword, and ye shall fall by the sword: he afterwards adds the manner: I, says he, will bring the sword upon you, which ye feared: he says, I will draw you out from the midst of it. He declares the manner: namely, that he will bring them into an open plain, that he may more easily slay them there. If any should object, that this was not seething them in the city, the answer is easy: that God did not restrict his wroth to one kind of punishment, when he thus spoke by Jeremiah. For we know that the Prophets set before us God’s judgments in various ways, and thus use various figures. Since therefore the Prophets do not always teach in the same manner, it is not surprising if, when he shortly shows that God’s wrath was near the Jews, he used that simile: ye shall fall, says he, by the sword, and in the borders of Israel shall I judge you.

Here he clearly expresses what I lately touched upon. It was indeed God’s judgment, when the Jews were drawn from the city in which they thought they had a quiet nest: for when they were violently dragged into exile, God exercised his judgments upon them: and from the time when he deprived them of their country, then he already began to be their judge. But here he begins to treat of a severer judgment. Although God had begun to chastise the Jews when he expelled them from the city, yet he treated them more severely in the boundaries of Israel; because when they came in sight of the king of Babylon, then the king saw his slain: then he himself was rendered blind and dragged into Chaldea, and all the nobles slain. (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39.) Hence we may gather that the people’s blood was poured out without discrimination. Now therefore we understand what God means when he threatens to judge them in the borders of Israel, that is without their country. Lastly, he here denounces a double penalty, first because God would east them out of Jerusalem in which they delighted, and in which they said that they should dwell so long that exile would be their first punishment: then he adds, that he was not content with exile, but that a heavier punishment was at hand, when they should be cast out of their country, and the land should cast; them forth as a stench which it cannot bear. I will judge you therefore in the borders of Israel: that is, beyond the holy land: for since one curse has already occurred in exile, still a harder and more formidable revenge will await; you. Now he adds, ye shall know that I am Jehovah

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Doubtless Ezekiel reproves the sloth which was the cause of such great contumacy: for they had never dared to contend so perseveringly with God, unless their minds had been stupified; for were we to reflect that we are striving with God, horror would immediately seize upon us; for who labors under such madness as to dare to contend with God his maker? This torpor, therefore, Ezekiel now obliquely reproves, when he says that the Jews would know too late that they were dealing with God. Although therefore they sinned through ignorance, it does not follow that they were without, excuse, for whence arose their ignorance except from being inattentive to God? It sprang first from carelessness: then that carelessness and security produced contempt, and contempt sprang from their depraved lust of sinning. Since therefore they determined to give themselves up to all manner of sinning, they put away as far as possible all teaching: nay they willingly endeavored to stupify their own consciences, and thus we see that depraved desire impelled them to contempt, and contempt begat in them security, in which at length this ignorance plunged them. Since therefore at the time it did not come into their mind to contend with God, this does not extenuate their fault, because, as I have said, they had stupified themselves with determined and spontaneous wickedness.

Meanwhile, it is by no means doubtful that God always pricked them that they might feel themselves sinners, but the Prophet here speaks of that knowledge which is called experimental. For the impious are said to know God when, being struck by his hand, they unwillingly acknowledge his power: because whether they will or not they feel him to be their judge. But this knowledge does not profit them; nay even increases their destruction. But we understand the Prophet’s meaning, that the Jews were rebellious and despised God’s servants: because they pretended that they had to do only with men, and covered themselves with darkness, lest they should behold the light which was offered to their eyes. God pronounces that they should know at length with whom they contended, as Zechariah says, they shall see whom they have pierced; (Zechariah 12:10;) that is, they shall know that it is I whom they have wounded, when they so proudly despised my servants, and abjured all confidence in my teaching. Hence also we gather that the minds of the impious were so confused, that seeing they did not see; for when they experience God to be their judge, they are compelled in reality to confess that they feel his hand: yet they remain stupid, because they do not profit, as the Prophet had just now said, — ye feared the sword. But they were careless, as we saw, and despised all threats. Of what kind, then, is this fear which is remarked upon by the Prophet? that of the impious forsooth, who while they make for themselves blandishments, and fancy that they have made a covenant with death, as is said in Isaiah, (Isaiah 28:15; Isaiah 48:22; and Isaiah 57:21,) and promise themselves freedom from punishment, even when a scourge is passing through the land, yet tremble and are always ill-at-ease, because they have no peace, as it is said elsewhere. In fine, we see the impious always remaining careless and stupid: though they are careless, yet they tremble and are tortured with secret impiety, since the severity of God urges them on. At length he concludes, Jerusalem should not be their caldron, but he would punish them in the border of Israel But I have sufficiently explained this clause. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10 Contrary to their vain confidence he showeth in what…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–12 Eze 11:7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–12 Therefore; your murders are the cause of my severity,…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–12 Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Applying the parabolical…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 11 Bring you forth - Not in mercy, but in…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 11 Verse 7. Your slain - they are the flesh]…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v8 Eze 11:8-11. Ye have feared the sword — Of…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 All that shall remain in the city are the…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 12 Cauldron. I will explain the prediction, which you turn…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7–12 The city is a caldron to them, but it…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11 7. They are the flesh, etc. — The only…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7–11 7. Those slain in the midst of Jerusalem will…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 (7) Your slain . . . they are the…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 They are the flesh, etc. The prophet is led…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v12 But have done after the manners of the heathen…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 11 General Information:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v8 11:8-10 God had once rescued his people from foreigners…
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