USB ~ Ezekiel 25

Against Ammon.

1 The word of the LORD came to me:

2 Son of man, turn toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. a

3 Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you jeered at my sanctuary when it was desecrated, at the land of Israel when it was destroyed, and at the house of Judah when they went into exile,

4 therefore I am giving you to people from the east† as a possession. They shall set up their encampments among you and pitch their tents in your midst; they shall eat your produce and drink your milk. b

5 And I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all of Ammon into a grazing place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.

6 For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you rejoiced over the land of Israel with scorn in your heart, clapping your hands and stamping your feet,

7 therefore, see, I am stretching out my hand against you and giving you up as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and wipe you out of the lands. I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD. c

Against Moab.

8 d Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, “See! the house of Judah is like all the other nations,”

9 therefore, I am exposing the whole flank of Moab† with its cities, the jewels of its land: Beth-jesimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim.

10 I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the people from the east that it may not be remembered among the nations.

11 I will execute judgment upon Moab that they may know that I am the LORD. e

Against Edom.

12 f Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom took vengeance on the house of Judah and incurred terrible guilt by taking vengeance on them,

13 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it human being and beast alike. I will turn it into ruins from Teman to Dedan; they shall fall by the sword. g

14 I will put my vengeance against Edom into the hands of my people Israel; they will deal with Edom in accord with my furious anger. Thus they shall know my vengeance!—oracle of the Lord GOD. h

Against the Philistines.

15 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility, i

16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites† and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast.

17 Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.

Footnotes

†. 25:1-32:32 These chapters form a body of oracles directed against foreign nations. They follow the prophet’s condemnation of Judah and oracles announcing its destruction. The unit precedes the announcement of Judah’s salvation in chaps. 33-48.

†. 25:1-17 Ezekiel condemns four nations for their reactions to Judah’s destruction and exile: Ammon to the east (vv. 2-7); Moab to the southeast (vv. 8-11); Edom to the south (vv. 12-14); Philistia to the west (vv. 15-17). Their hostility was not unprovoked; at one time or another, each one either lost territory to Israel or had been under Israelite control.

†. 25:4 People from the east: nomadic tribes from the desert east of Ammon and Moab (cf. Is 11:14; Jer 49:28), often a threat to outlying towns and villages.

†. 25:9 The whole flank of Moab: the eastern edge of the Moabite plateau, perhaps lightly fortified because the vast desert to the east provided a natural barrier to invasion.

†. 25:16 Cherethites: people from the island of Crete in the Aegean, the Philistines’ point of origin. In Zep 2:5, the terms “Philistines,” “Cherethites,” and “seacoast people” describe the same group of people.

25:2 Jer 49:1-6; Am 1:13-15; Zep 2:8-11.
25:4 Dt 28:33, 51.
25:7 Am 1:14-15.
25:8 Sir 50:26; Is 15-16; Jer 48; Am 2:1-3.
25:11 Am 2:1-3.
25:12 2 Sm 8:13-14; 2 Chr 28:17; Ob 11-14.
25:13 cf. Ez 35; Is 34:5-17; 63:1-6; Jer 49:7-11.
25:14 cf. Ez 35:11.
25:15 Is 14:29-31; Jer 47:1-7; Am 1:6-8; Zep 2:4-7.