III. Prophecies Against Foreign Nations[a]
Chapter 25[b]
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[c] 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[d] 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[e] 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.
Cross references
- 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.