Ezequiel 25

BLIVRE · Chapter 25/48

1E veio a mim a palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, dirige tua face contra os filhos de Amom, e profetiza sobre eles.

3E diz aos filhos de Amom: Ouvi a palavra do Senhor DEUS; assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dado que disseste: Ha, ha! Acerca de meu santuário quando foi profanado, e acerca da terra de Israel quando foi desolada, e acerca da casa de Judá quando foram ao cativeiro,

4Por isso, eis, eu te entregarei como possessão aos filhos do oriente, e estabelecerão suas acampamentos em ti, e porão suas tendas em ti; eles comerão teus frutos e beberão teu leite.

5E tornarei a Rabá em estábulo de camelos, e os filhos de Amom em curral de ovelhas; e sabereis que eu sou o SENHOR.

6Porque assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dado que bateste palmas, e bateste o pés, e te alegraste na alma em todo teu desprezo sobre a terra de Israel,

7Por isso, eis que eu estenderei minha mão contra ti, e te entregarei às nações para seres saqueada; e eu te cortarei dentre os povos, e te destruirei dentre as terras; eu te eliminarei, e saberás que eu sou o SENHOR.

8Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Visto que Moabe e Seir dizem: Eis que a casa de Judá é como todas as nações,

9Por isso, eis que abrirei a lateral de Moabe desde as cidades, desde suas cidades que estão em suas fronteiras, as melhores terras: Bete-Jesimote, e Baal-Meom, e até Quiriataim;

10Serão para os filhos do oriente, com [a terra] dos filhos de Amom; e a entregarei por possessão, para que não haja lembrança dos filhos de Amom entre as nações.

11Também farei julgamentos em Moabe; e saberão que eu sou o SENHOR.

12Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dado que Edom se vingou contra a casa de Judá, e se tornaram extremamente culpados ao se vingarem deles;

13Por isso assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Eu também estenderei minha mão contra [a terra de] Edom: exterminarei dela homens e animais, e a tornarei desolada; desde Temã e Dedã cairão à espada.

14E me vingarei contra Edom pela mão do meu povo Israel; e farão em Edom segundo minha ira, e conhecerão minha vingança, diz o Senhor DEUS.

15Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dado que os filisteus agiram com vingança, quando se vingaram com desprezo na alma, destruindo por hostilidades antigas,

16Por isso assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Eis que eu estendo minha mão contra os filisteus, e exterminarei os queretitas, e destruirei o resto da costa do mar.

17E farei neles grandes vinganças, com castigos de furor; e saberão que eu sou o SENHOR, quando me vingar deles.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ezekiel prophesies judgment against four nations neighboring Israel — Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines — for mocking or taking revenge on Judah during its fall.

Explanation

This chapter opens a section of the book (chs. 25-32) devoted to oracles against foreign nations, a genre common among the prophets (see also Isaiah 13-23, Jeremiah 46-51). Each of these nations had ancient historical ties to Israel — Ammon and Moab descended from Lot, Edom from Esau — which makes their mockery in the face of Jerusalem's fall even more painful, like a relative betraying family in hardship. The principle behind these prophecies is that God holds nations accountable for how they treat his people, even while using another nation (Babylon) as an instrument of temporary discipline.

Fun facts

  • Edom, a descendant of Esau, is treated with special severity by the prophets (see also the entire book of Obadiah) because of the deep historical rivalry between the brothers Jacob and Esau.
  • The Philistines, mentioned here for the last significant time in Scripture, would disappear as a distinct people just a few centuries later, absorbed by other cultures in the region.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 25:1Formula opening a new section of the book: from here begin the oracles against the neighboring nations, which will fill chapters 25 through 32.
  2. Ezequiel 25:2Ammon was a kingdom east of the Jordan, related to Israel through Lot. Ezekiel is ordered to announce judgment against it, the first in a series against the neighboring peoples.
  3. Ezequiel 25:3Chapters 25 through 32 change subject: they are oracles against the neighboring nations, a genre common among the prophets. Ammon is condemned here for celebrating the fall of Jerusalem and the temple, a detail that shows how the surrounding nations reacted to Judah’s disaster.
  4. Ezequiel 25:4As punishment, Ammon will lose its lands to “the men of the east” — nomadic peoples from the Arabian region — who will occupy its houses and live off what the land produced.
  5. Ezequiel 25:5Rabbah was the capital of Ammon (today’s Amman, in Jordan). Becoming “a stable for camels” and “a couchingplace for flocks” means the proud city would be emptied out and used only as pasture.
  6. Ezequiel 25:6The charge against Ammon is gestural: clapping hands and stamping feet were physical signs of mockery and celebration, used here to celebrate Israel’s misfortune.
  7. Ezequiel 25:7God answers Ammon’s mockery with the same kind of blow: handing it over as plunder to other nations and erasing its identity among the peoples.
  8. Ezequiel 25:8Moab, Ammon’s neighbor, is condemned for saying that Judah had become “like unto all the heathen” — with no special protection, a line that sounded like mockery of the chosen people’s fall.
  9. Ezequiel 25:9The cities named — Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and Kiriathaim — sat on Moab’s border and were a source of local pride; God says He will “open the side of Moab,” leaving them exposed to the invader.
  10. Ezequiel 25:10The same men of the east who would occupy Ammon (v. 4) would also take this part of Moab — the stated goal is that not even the memory of these peoples should continue to exist.
  11. Ezequiel 25:11Summary of the sentence against Moab: judgment along the same lines already stated, so that the people will recognize God’s authority behind the punishment.
  12. Ezequiel 25:12Against Edom, the charge is revenge: the people of Edom took advantage of Judah’s fall to settle old scores — other biblical texts, such as Obadiah, give more detail on this episode of betrayal by a related people.
  13. Ezequiel 25:13Edom, descended from Esau and a neighbor south of the Dead Sea, is also a target: from Teman in the north to Dedan in the south, nearly the whole territory would be devastated.
  14. Ezequiel 25:14The vengeance against Edom would come “by the hand of my people Israel” — unlike the other nations on the list, punished by foreign empires rather than by Israel itself.
  15. Ezequiel 25:15The Philistines are condemned by the same logic: rejoicing at another’s misfortune. This oracle pattern, a neighboring nation judged for how it treated Judah in her moment of weakness, repeats in the following chapters against Tyre and Egypt.
  16. Ezequiel 25:16The Philistines, on the coastal strip west of Judah, are also condemned; the KJV calls them the “Cherethims,” another name for this people, tied to the island of Crete, from where part of them are thought to have come.
  17. Ezequiel 25:17Closing of the oracle against the Philistines: the punishment serves so that they will recognize who the Lord is, a refrain repeated in almost every judgment in this section.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.