New Living Translation
Ezekiel 22:27
27Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money!
Ezekiel 22:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
- New International Version (NIV)Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.
Context of Ezekiel 22:27
25Your princes plot conspiracies just as lions stalk their prey. They devour innocent people, seizing treasures and extorting wealth. They make many widows in the land. 26Your priests have violated my instructions and defiled my holy things. They make no distinction between what is holy and what is not. And they do not teach my people the difference between what is ceremonially clean and unclean. They disregard my Sabbath days so that I am dishonored among them. Your leaders are like wolves who tear apart their victims. They actually destroy people’s lives for money! 28And your prophets cover up for them by announcing false visions and making lying predictions. They say, ‘My message is from the Sovereign Lord,’ when the Lord hasn’t spoken a single word to them. 29Even common people oppress the poor, rob the needy, and deprive foreigners of justice.
Read all of Ezekiel 22Ezekiel 22:27 word by word
שָׂרֶ֣יהָ בְקִרְבָּ֔הּ כִּזְאֵבִ֖ים טֹ֣רְפֵי טָ֑רֶף לִשְׁפָּךְ־דָּם֙ לְאַבֵּ֣ד נְפָשׁ֔וֹת לְמַ֖עַן בְּצֹ֥עַ בָּֽצַע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Her princesשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- in the midstקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
- like wolvesזְאֵבze'êb · wolfH2061
- raveningטָרַףţâraph · to tearH2963
- the preyטֶ֫רֶףţereph · preyH2964
- to shedשָׁפַךְshâphak · to pour: killH8210
- bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
- to destroyאָבַד'âbad · to perishH6
- soulsנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soul: lifeH5315
- to getבָּצַעbâtsa‛ · to cut off: to gainH1214
- dishonest gainבֶּ֫צַעbetsa‛ · unjust-gainH1215
Cross-references for Ezekiel 22:27
- Ezekiel 22:6“Every leader in Israel who lives within your walls is bent on murder.
- Ezekiel 19:3She raised one of her cubs to become a strong young lion. He learned to hunt and devour prey, and he became a man-eater.
- Ezekiel 45:9“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating my people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign Lord.
- Isaiah 1:23Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs, but they refuse to defend the cause of orphans or fight for the rights of widows.
- Hosea 7:1“I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside!
- Micah 3:2but you are the very ones who hate good and love evil. You skin my people alive and tear the flesh from their bones.
- Micah 7:8Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
- Zephaniah 3:3Its leaders are like roaring lions hunting for their victims. Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time, who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
- James 2:6But you dishonor the poor! Isn’t it the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
- Ezekiel 22:13“But now I clap my hands in indignation over your dishonest gain and bloodshed.
- Matthew 21:13He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
- James 5:1Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.
Commentaries on Ezekiel 22:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27Her princes - Are as bad as her priests; they are rapacious, and grievously oppress the people by unjust impositions in order to increase their revenues.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23-31Verses 23-31 The sixth word of judgment. The special sins of princes, priests, and people. Ezekiel 22:26 Violated - Better as in margin; to offer “violence” to the Law is to misinterpret it. It was the special office of the priests to keep up the distinction between “holy” and “unholy,” “clean” and “unclean” Leviticus 10:10. Ezekiel 22:28 See the marginal reference note. Ezekiel 22:30 The land might be said to perish for the lack of such interpositions as…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 23-31Verses 23-31 All orders and degrees of men had helped to fill the measure of the nation's guilt. The people that had any power abused it, and even the buyers and sellers find some way to oppress one another. It bodes ill to a people when judgments are breaking in upon them, and the spirit of prayer is restrained. Let all who fear God, unite to promote his truth and righteousness; as wicked men of every rank and profession plot together to run them down.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25-29This list of Jerusalem’s sins focuses on the wrongdoings of Judah's leaders (compare Zephaniah 3:3–4). princes: The princes and other leaders abused their power by killing innocent people and taking their wealth. The priests sinned by failing to teach the law, preventing people from distinguishing between holy and unholy, clean and unclean. The prophets shared false visions instead of true messages from God. As a result, the people wandered away from God…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. princes--who should have employed the influence of their position for the people's welfare, made "gain" their sole aim. wolves--notorious for fierce and ravening cruelty (Mi 3:2, 3, 9-11; Joh 10:12).Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 22:27
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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