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 about twenty-five men, with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.
Parallel Translations
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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 about twenty-five men, with their backs toward Yahweh’s temple, and their faces toward the east. They were worshiping the sun toward the east.
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And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
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And He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Ezekiel 8:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 4:19 and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky.
- Deuteronomy 17:3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded,
- Jeremiah 32:33 They have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. Although I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.
- Jeremiah 2:27 who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’ and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’ for they have turned their back to me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’
- Ezekiel 11:1 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, which looks eastward. Behold, twenty-five men were at the door of the gate; and I saw among them Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
- Job 31:26-28 if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges; for I should have denied the God who is above.
- Ezekiel 43:5 The Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and behold, Yahweh’s glory filled the house.
- Joel 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of Yahweh, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, “Spare your people, Yahweh, and don’t give your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
- Jeremiah 44:17 But we will certainly perform every word that has gone out of our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then had we plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
- Acts 7:42-43 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the sky, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’
- 1 Kings 8:29 that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there;’ to listen to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place.
- 2 Kings 16:14 The bronze altar, which was before Yahweh, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and Yahweh’s house, and put it on the north side of his altar.
- 2 Kings 23:5 He got rid of the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the army of the sky.
- 2 Kings 23:11 He took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of Yahweh’s house, by the room of Nathan Melech the officer, who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
- 2 Chronicles 29:6 For our fathers were unfaithful, and have done that which was evil in Yahweh our God’s sight, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of Yahweh, and turned their backs.
- Ezekiel 10:3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
- Ezekiel 23:35 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Because you have forgotten me, and cast me behind your back, therefore you also bear your lewdness and your prostitution.’ ”
- Ezekiel 40:28 Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate. He measured the south gate according to these measurements;
- Ezekiel 45:19 The priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it on the door posts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner court.
- 2 Chronicles 7:7 Moreover Solomon made the middle of the court that was before Yahweh’s house holy; for there he offered the burnt offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offering, the meal offering, and the fat.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner…
Eze 8:16 And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD’S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, [were] about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
Ver. 16. Were about five and twenty men.] These, say some, were the king and his council See Eze 11:1.
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With their backs toward the temple.] And yet in a part of it. Hoc fuit signum nimiae improbitatis. Veluti Dominum in certamen provocantes. Here to turn their posteriors upon God’s house and ark, which they were commanded to look towards as a type of Christ, was to bid open defiance to him, and to renounce his service, cum ingenti contumelia sanctitatis Domini! Oh, the unspeakable patience of God!
And they worshipped the sun.] So did the Persians, under the name of Mithra; the Assyrians, of Osiris; the Egyptians, of Orus son of Isis, &c. Heathens thought that Christians did so too, because anciently they prayed with their faces eastward. {a}
{a} Tertul. Apol.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The inner court; the inmost, that which was next…
The inner court; the inmost, that which was next to the temple, called here the Lord’s house.
At the door of the temple: before he saw abominations in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself.
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The porch; that stately, large porch, beautified with the high, curious, and mighty brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz, of which see 1Ki 6:3; 7:15,21.
The altar; the brazen altar for burnt-offerings, which was placed in the court before the front of the temple, and is here represented in its proper place, 2Ki 16:14. This is not contradictory to Eze 8:5, which speaks of the place where Ahaz had wickedly placed the altar, but this, Eze 8:16, speaks of the same altar, as supposing it to be where it ought, as God commanded it should be, and Solomon placed it, 2Ch 8:12.
About five and twenty; an indefinite and undetermined number.
Five and twenty men; either some principal men, or else some priests. If these, the greater sin in them to turn idolaters; if the other, the idolatry committed by them in a place they should not have entered appears presumptuous and greatly wicked.
With their backs toward the temple; in contempt of God, with an open and designed abrenunciation of God and his worship.
Worshipped the sun: though God had prohibited this, Deu 17:3, with Deu 4:17-19; yet, in imitation of’ the Chaldees, Persians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and the Eastern idolaters, these Jews turn their back on God, who created the sun, and worship the creature in contempt of the Creator.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he brought me into the inner court of…
And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house,.... The court of the priests, where they offered sacrifice, and into which none might come but themselves:
and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar; the porch that led into the temple, and the brasen altar, the altar of burnt offerings, which was a very sacred place, and reckoned more holy than the court of the priests (g).
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were about five and twenty men; the number, more or less, not being exactly known; who they were, whether the priests or princes of the people, is not certain; probably some of both:
with their backs towards the temple of the Lord; that is, the most holy place, which they were obliged to, in order to do what is afterwards affirmed of them; for the sanctuary was built to the west, that in their worship the Jews might not look to the east, as the Gentiles did; wherefore these men, that they might imitate the Gentiles in their idolatry, turned their backs to the most holy place; which is an aggravation of their impiety; casting the utmost contempt on God, his worship, and the place of it:
and their faces towards the east: when the sun rises:
and they worshipped the sun towards the east; as many nations did, though forbidden the Jews by an express law of God, Deu 4:19; yet this they fell into, and had horses and chariots devoted to this idolatry; see Kg2 21:3. The word rendered "worshipped" is compounded of two words; one signifying to "corrupt", the other to "worship": showing that, by worshipping the sun, they corrupted themselves, and the house of God; and so the Targum renders it,
"and, lo, they corrupted themselves, worshipping in the east the sun;''
and so it is explained in the Jerusalem Talmud,
"they corrupted the temple, and worshipped the sun;''
but Kimchi thinks the word (h) consists of the verb in the past tense, and of the participle; and that the sense is, when the prophet saw the men worshipping the sun to the east, as amazed at it, put this question to those that went in, "do ye worship also?" (i) so Ben Melech.
(g) Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 7. fol. 184. 4. (h) (i) Vid. Hottinger. Smegma Orientale, l. 3. par. 1. c. 24. p. 154. who rather is of opinion that the word is compounded of the participle and the particle or the pronoun
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Inner court - The innermost, that which was next…
Inner court - The innermost, that which was next the temple, called here the Lord's house. At the door - Before he saw abominations in the gates of the courts, now he is come to the very house itself. The porch - That stately porch, beautified with the curious and mighty brass pillars, Jachin and Boaz. Altar - The brazen altar for burnt-offerings, which was placed in the court before the front of the temple, and is here represented in its proper place. Their backs - In contempt of God, and his worship. The sun - In imitation of the Persians, Egyptians, and other eastern idolaters; these Jews turn their back on God who created the sun, and worship the creature in contempt of the Creator.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Five and twenty men] These most probably…
Verse 16. Five and twenty men] These most probably represented the twenty-four courses of the priests, with the high priest for the twenty-fifth. This was the Persian worship, as their turning their faces to the east plainly shows they were worshipping the rising sun.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The inner court - The court of the priests.
The inner court - The court of the priests.
About five and twenty men - Rather, as it were five etc. This was the number of the heads of the 24 courses (shifts) with the high priest presiding over them. These then were the representatives of the priests, as the seventy were of the people. In the temple the seat of the Divine Majesty was at the west, perhaps appointed for this very purpose, to guard against the idolatrous adoration of the rising sun. Therefore the idolatrous priests must in worshipping the false sun-god turn their backs upon the True. The worship of the heavenly bodies was one of the earliest forms of idolatry Job 31:26-27 and was expressly forbidden in the Law Deu 17:3. In its earliest form, it was conducted without the intervention of images, the adoration being addressed to the heavenly bodies themselves: this form, continued among the Persians, seems to have been introduced afresh into Jerusalem at the time of Ezekiel. Compare, also, 2Ki 23:11-12. The images (compare Eze 6:4, Eze 6:6) were probably columns set up in honor of the sun, not images in human form. This simpler mode of sunworship was soon changed. The sun, or the god supposed to preside over it, was represented as a person, whose image was set up and adored.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Men. Twelve priests and as many Levites officiated daily.…
Men. Twelve priests and as many Levites officiated daily. The high priest made the twenty fifth, 1 Paralipomenon xxiv. --- Sun. They prayed to God, turning their faces to the west: but here they despised him, and adored the sun, Job xxxi. 26. (Calmet) --- This posture was common. Illi ad surgentem conversi lumina solum. (Virgil, Æneid xii.) (Serv.) --- Christians did the like, though the reason is not ascertained. (Calmet) --- It might be because Christ is the orient, and not to resemble the Jews. There was no danger of their being taken for idolaters. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain worshipped--In the Hebrew a corrupt form is used to…
worshipped--In the Hebrew a corrupt form is used to express Ezekiel's sense of the foul corruption of such worship.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 16. With their backs toward the temple — “The…
16. With their backs toward the temple — “The very act was symbolical of their apostasy (2Ch_29:6; Isa_1:4; Jer_7:24). And they did this in order that they might look to the east and worship the rising sun. That, and not the temple (Dan_6:10), was the Kiblah of their adoration.” — Plumptre.
They worshiped the sun — No worship was so widespread as this in the ancient world. Almost every god of Egypt, Babylon, and Canaan can be traced back to some primitive sun deity. The five and twenty men mentioned here were engaged in the worship of the sun at its rising, which was at this time perhaps the most popular form of heathen worship with the educated classes, and which continued in Palestine far down in the Christian era. Since Manasseh the temple of Jehovah had been a place of worship for the constellations of heaven, which were adored by their political lord at Nineveh. It would seem at this time to have become part of the state worship at Jerusalem. The “queen of heaven” (Jer_7:18; Jer_44:17) was the popular name for Astarte, the morning and evening star (Zeits. fur die alt. Wiss., 1890, p. 130). This worship took place in the court of the priests, and there need be no doubt that these twenty-four men, led by some foreign hierophant or the Jewish high priest, are intended to symbolize the entire priesthood, or at least a representative from each priestly course (1Ch_24:4-18; 2Ch_36:14; Ezr_10:15). The mention that these priests “put the branch to their nose” while they adored the sun, perhaps shows one particular in which their worship was more abominable than the last. The flower or branch in many ancient rituals is the symbol of life and fructification, and suggests all the orgies of the spring festivals. (See notes Eze_8:14-15.)
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. The sun-worshippers in the inner court
16. The sun-worshippers in the inner court
16. about five and twenty] LXX., about twenty. These men were seen adoring the sun with their faces to the east, and their backs to the temple house. Their position between the temple and the altar seems to imply that they were priests (Joe_2:17), and it is not decisive against this view that they are called “elders” in ch. Eze_9:6, for Jer_19:1 refers to “the elders of the priests.” They may be supposed representatives of the priesthood.
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worshipped the sun] The worship of the sun, the queen of heaven, and the host of heaven, was adopted by Israel from their eastern conquerors: cf. 2Ki_23:5; 2Ki_23:11; Jer_44:17; Job_31:26; Deu_4:19. (The Heb. is to be read mishtaḥavim.)
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (16) Between the porch and the altar.—Ezekiel now returns…
(16) Between the porch and the altar.—Ezekiel now returns to the court of the priests, and there sees—not about, but as it were (referring to the nature of the vision)—“twenty-five men.” These are probably the high priest and the heads of the twenty-four courses, representing the whole body of the priests, as the elders represented the whole body of the people. They were standing between the altar and the Temple, therefore in the most sacred part of the court, and there, turning their backs upon the Temple of the Lord, worshipped the sun. The adoration of the sun, probably the earliest form of false religion, was the especial worship of Persia, but had been long since practised by the kings and people of Judah (2Ki_23:5; 2Ki_23:11). Thus all classes of the nation are seen to be involved in common sin; and the priests particularly, the especial guardians of true religion, are found practising this sin under circumstances of peculiar insult to God. That the “chief priests” did pollute the sanctuary at this time is expressly asserted in the history at 2Ch_36:14.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He brought me into the inner court. The last…
He brought me into the inner court. The last and the worst form of desecration follows. It was the "inner court" (Joe_2:17) which, after the exile, was entered only by the priests. During the monarchy, however, it seems to have been accessible to kings and other persons of importance, as in the case of Solomon (1Ki_8:22 1Ki_9:25) in the revolution against Athaliah, (2Ki_11:4-15) and Hezekiah, (2Ki_19:14) and Josiah. (2Ki_23:2) Ezekiel does not say that the men whom he saw were priests, though the number twenty-five suggests that they were taking the place of the high priest and the heads of the twenty-four courses of the priesthood, (1Ch_24:4-19) and so symbolized the whole order of the priesthood as the seventy elders represented the laity in 2Ch_36:14 the chief of the priests is spoken of as having been prominent in "polluting the house of the Lord." They were seen turning their backs to the temple of Jehovah, i.e. the sanctuary. The very act was symbolical of their apostasy (Isa_1:4; Jer_7:24) And they did this in order that they might look to the east and worship the rising sun. That, and not the temple, (Dan_6:10) was the Kiblah of their adoration. The sun worship here appears to have had a Persian character, as being offered to the sun itself, and not to Baal, as a solar god. Of such a worship we have traces in Deu_4:19 Deu_17:3; Job_31:26; 2Ki_23:5, 2Ki_23:11.
Sun worship.
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When Ezekiel, in his visionary visit to the temple, came upon the last scene of horror, and beheld the greatest of all the abominations therein committed, he saw twenty-five men performing rites of worship before the rising sun.
I SUN WORSHIP IS MOST FASCINATING. This was the most common, and perhaps also the most primitive, heathen cult. It was very prominent in the ancient Egyptian religion the rising, the midday, and the setting sun being honoured with separate names and rites; it was the essential idea of the Canaanite Baal worship, as well as of the Babylonian religion; and it lies at the heart of the Aryan mythology in Sanscrit, Greek, and Teutonic forms. If any material object should be selected for worship, it is natural that the earth"s great source of light, power, and life should be the universal favourite. Our modern idolatries do not reach this material form, but they contain the same ideas.
1. The worship of light. This takes two forms.
(1) AEstheticism. Grace of form and tone are set up as supreme objects of admiration, to the neglect of moral goodness.
(2) Science. This is put on a pinnacle as lord of all thought and life. Now, knowledge is good, and all truth, which is the subject of science, is in itself pure, and should be pursued by men. But the exclusive cult of science is idolatry, because it is placing knowledge above obedience.
1. The worship of power. The sun is the great motive power of the universe. Latent sun heat in coal drives our steam engines. Direct sun heat lifts the water from the sea, that afterwards descends in avalanches and mountain torrents. We do not prostrate ourselves before the sun, the source of all this force, but we do magnify the virtue of the power itself. Yet material resources are not the highest good.
2. The worship of life. The sun is the great fertilizing influence of nature. The return of its warm rays awakens nature from the death of winter, and creates the new life of spring; its great heat makes the tropics to teem with swift growing vegetable and insect life. The most modern idolatry is the deification of the vital powers the idea that, as all natural instinct is pure, the indulgence of naturalism is commendable. This is just the old Canaanite abomination.
3. The worship of the future. The sun worshipper turned to the east and hailed the sunrise. There is something fascinating and exhilarating in this anticipation of the morning. Christianity consecrates hope. But it is a mistake to believe in the future as in a fate of coming good. The future can only be good because God is in it, and blesses it.
II SUN WORSHIP IS MOST ABOMINABLE. It includes many evil things.
1. Departure from God. The sun worshippers stood with their backs turned towards the temple. Their attitude was most significant. All idolatry must be practised with the back turned towards the truly Divine. We cannot serve the false and the true at one and the same time.
2. The degradation of Gods greatest works. The more beautiful and powerful and fruitful the sun is seen to be, the more shameful is it that men should degrade their thought of it into idolatry. When we abuse God"s best gifts by idolizing them, we turn what should occasion our deepest gratitude and admiration for God"s goodness into an occasion for departing from him.
3. The consecration of sin. Sun worship began in adoration of the lord of day. But it descended into gross licentiousness, through the selection of the fertilizing power of sun heat as a special object of adoration. Thus sun worship became the worship of lust. This will be the inevitable effect of naturalism regarded as a religion. The worship of nature powers pure and simple involves the consecration of the lowest of those powers, so that what should be kept down as a slave claims to rule as a master, with obscene effrontery.
CONCLUSION. The rescue from nature worship modern as well as ancient is to be found in the revelation of One infinitely greater than nature. No wonder men who had no vision of the spiritual God selected the sun so powerful in his southern splendour as the greatest object of adoration. But we have "the Sun of Righteousness," before whose glory all physical brightness grows pale and fades away.
Sun worshippers in Jerusalem.
Although the worship of Baal and other similar deities was no doubt a corruption due to the personification of the great orb of day, it does not seem that, in this passage, the prophet intends to denounce that form of idolatry. It appears that actual sun worship, which we know to have been practised among the Persians, obtained in the time of Ezekiel at Jerusalem, though it is scarcely credible that it took place literally in the circumstances depicted in the context.
I THE SUN WORSHIP ITSELF. Of this it is enough to say that it is creature worship, and is therefore dishonouring to the Creator who kindled the sun in the firmament, and who is himself the eternal, uncreated Light.
II THE SUN WORSHIPPERS.
1. They included the priesthood; for the five and twenty here mentionedwere doubtless the heads of the twenty-four courses, with the high priest presiding over them.
2. Their attitude was indicative of profanity and defection; they aredepicted as turning their backs towards the temple of Jehovah that they might face the sun as he rose in the east.
III THE EFFECTS OF SUN WORSHIP.
1. This superstition estranged the minds of those who practised it from the God who is Light, and in whom is no darkness at all; it rendered them indifferent to the Divine Law, and inattentive to the Divine service and worship.
2. It was the means of filling the land with abominations and violence, andthis was especially the case when conjoined with the worship of the Phoenician sun god.
3. It thus became one of the many occasions for the arousing of the angerof God, and led to the retributions and chastenings which speedily came upon the ungrateful, unspiritual, and apostate people. T.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 This word shows that Ezekiel was surprised by what…
behold!
This word shows that Ezekiel was surprised by what he saw.
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portico
covering in front of an entrance with columns or posts for support
their faces toward the east
"they were looking toward the east"
translationWords
court
house of God
temple
altar
face
worship
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:16 The fourth and crowning act of idolatry took…
8:16 The fourth and crowning act of idolatry took place in the very heart of the Temple complex, in the inner courtyard of the Lord’s Temple, as close as anyone could approach to the Temple building without actually entering it. • The twenty-five men . . . worshiping the sun were possibly priests, as none but priests should have had access to this area, though they might have been non-priests flaunting the rules of access. Though physically closer to the Lord’s presence than anyone else, they had turned their backs to the sanctuary of their Creator. Instead of worshiping him, they worshiped what he had created (cp. Rom 1:25).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.