Ezekiel 18:25

Bible in Basic English (1941)

But you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Give ear, now, O children of Israel; is my way not equal? are not your ways unequal?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַאֲמַרְתֶּ֕ם לֹ֥א יִתָּכֵ֖ן דֶּ֣רֶךְ אֲדֹנָ֑י שִׁמְעוּ־נָא֙ בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל הֲדַרְכִּי֙ לֹ֣א יִתָּכֵ֔ן הֲלֹ֥א דַרְכֵיכֶ֖ם לֹ֥א יִתָּכֵֽנוּ׃

Transliteration

wa- ʾămartem lōʾ yittākēn derek ʾădōnāy šimʿû-nāʾ bêt yiśrāʾēl hă- darkî lōʾ yittākēn hă- lōʾ darkêkem lōʾ yittākēnû

Grammar Details

• *wa-*: conjunction - and
• *ʾămartem*: Qal perfect 2nd masculine plural - you have said
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *yittākēn*: Niphal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - it is established
• *derek*: masculine singular construct - way of
• *ʾădōnāy*: divine title - Lord
• *šimʿû*: Qal imperative masculine plural - hear
• *nāʾ*: particle of entreaty - please
• *bêt*: masculine singular construct - house of
• *yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *hă-*: interrogative particle - whether
• *darkî*: masculine singular noun with 1st person singular suffix - my way
• *darkêkem*: masculine plural noun with 2nd masculine plural suffix - your ways
• *yittākēnû*: Niphal imperfect 3rd masculine plural - they are established

Word Meanings

• *yittākēn*: is established/is right/is just/is fair
• *derek*: way/path/conduct
• *šimʿû*-*nāʾ*: please hear/listen now/hear attentively
• *yittākēnû*: are established/are right/are just/are fair

Referenced Verses

• Ezek 33:17 : 17 But the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: when it is they whose way is not equal.
• Ezek 33:20 : 20 And still you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, I will be your judge, giving to everyone the reward of his ways.
• Zeph 3:5 : 5 The Lord in her is upright; he will not do evil; every morning he lets his righteousness be seen, he is unchanging; but the evil-doer has no sense of shame.
• Mal 2:17 : 17 You have made the Lord tired with your words. And still you say, How have we made him tired? By your saying, Everyone who does evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and he has delight in them; or, Where is God the judge?
• Mal 3:13-15 : 13 Your words have been strong against me, says the Lord. And still you say, What have we said against you? 14 You have said, It is no use worshipping God: what profit have we had from keeping his orders, and going in clothing of sorrow before the Lord of armies? 15 And now to us the men of pride seem happy; yes, the evil-doers are doing well; they put God to the test and are safe.
• Gen 18:25 : 25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
• Jer 12:1 : 1 You are in the right, O Lord, when I put my cause before you: still let me take up with you the question of your decisions: why does the evil-doer do well? why are the workers of deceit living in comfort?
• Ezek 18:29 : 29 But still the children of Israel say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O children of Israel, are my ways not equal? are not your ways unequal?
• Jer 16:10-13 : 10 And it will be, that when you say all these words to the people, then they will say to you, Why has the Lord done all this evil against us? what is our wrongdoing and what is our sin which we have done against the Lord our God? 11 Then you will say to them, Because your fathers have given me up, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and become their servants and their worshippers, and have given me up and have not kept my law; 12 And you have done worse evil than your fathers; for see, every one of you is guided by the pride of his evil heart, so as not to give ear to me: 13 For this reason I will send you away out of this land into a land which is strange to you, to you and to your fathers; there you will be the servants of other gods day and night, and you will have no mercy from me.
• Deut 32:4 : 4 He is the Rock, complete is his work; for all his ways are righteousness: a God without evil who keeps faith, true and upright is he.
• Job 32:2 : 2 And Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was angry, burning with wrath against Job, because he seemed to himself more right than God;
• Job 34:5-9 : 5 For Job has said, I am upright, and it is God who has taken away my right; 6 Though I am right, still I am in pain; my wound may not be made well, though I have done no wrong. 7 What man is like Job, a man who freely makes sport of God, 8 And goes in the company of evil-doers, walking in the way of sinners? 9 For he has said, It is no profit to a man to take delight in God. 10 Now then, you wise, take note; you men of knowledge, give ear to me. Let it be far from God to do evil, and from the Ruler of all to do wrong.
• Job 35:2 : 2 Does it seem to you to be right, and righteousness before God, to say,
• Job 40:8 : 8 Let them be covered together in the dust; let their faces be dark in the secret place of the underworld.
• Job 42:4-6 : 4 Give ear to me, and I will say what is in my mind; I will put questions to you, and you will give me the answers. 5 Word of you had come to my ears, but now my eye has seen you. 6 For this cause I give witness that what I said is false, and in sorrow I take my seat in the dust.
• Ps 50:6 : 6 And let the heavens make clear his righteousness; for God himself is the judge. (Selah.)
• Ps 50:21 : 21 These things have you done, and I said nothing; it seemed to you that I was such a one as yourself; but I will make a protest against you, and put them in order before your eyes.
• Ps 145:17 : 17 The Lord is upright in all his ways, and kind in all his works.
• Jer 2:17-23 : 17 Has not this come on you because you have given up the Lord your God, who was your guide by the way? 18 And now, what have you to do on the way to Egypt, to get your drink from the waters of the Nile? or what have you to do on the way to Assyria, to get your drink from the waters of the River? 19 The evil you yourselves have done will be your punishment, your errors will be your judge: be certain then, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing to give up the Lord your God, and no longer to be moved by fear of me, says the Lord, the Lord of armies. 20 For in the past, your yoke was broken by your hands and your cords parted; and you said, I will not be your servant; for on every high hill and under every branching tree, your behaviour was like that of a loose woman 21 But when you were planted by me, you were a noble vine, in every way a true seed: how then have you been changed into the branching plant of a strange vine? 22 For even if you are washed with soda and take much soap, still your evil-doing is marked before me, says the Lord God. 23 How are you able to say, I am not unclean, I have not gone after the Baals? see your way in the valley, be clear about what you have done: you are a quick-footed camel twisting her way in and out;
• Jer 2:29-37 : 29 Why will you put forward your cause against me? You have all done evil against me, says the Lord. 30 I gave your children blows to no purpose; they got no good from training: your sword has been the destruction of your prophets, like a death-giving lion. 31 O generation, see the word of the Lord. Have I been a waste land to Israel? or a land of dark night? why do my people say, We have got loose, we will not come to you again? 32 Is it possible for a virgin to put out of her memory her ornaments, or a bride her robes? but my people have put me out of their memories for unnumbered days. 33 With what care are your ways ordered when you are looking for love! so ... your ways. 34 And in the skirts of your robe may be seen the life-blood of those who have done no wrong: ... 35 And still you said, I have done no wrong; truly, his wrath is turned away from me. See, I will take up the cause against you, because you say, I have done no wrong. 36 Why do you go about so much for the purpose of changing your way? you will be shamed on account of Egypt, as you were shamed on account of Assyria. 37 Truly, you will go out from him with your hands on your head: for the Lord has given up those in whom you have put your faith, and they will be of no help to you.
• Matt 20:11-15 : 11 And when they got it, they made a protest against the master of the house, 12 Saying, These last have done only one hour's work, and you have made them equal to us, who have undergone the hard work of the day and the burning heat. 13 But he in answer said to one of them, Friend, I do you no wrong: did you not make an agreement with me for a penny? 14 Take what is yours, and go away; it is my pleasure to give to this last, even as to you. 15 Have I not the right to do as seems good to me in my house? or is your eye evil, because I am good?
• Rom 2:5-6 : 5 But by your hard and unchanged heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of the revelation of God's judging in righteousness; 6 Who will give to every man his right reward:
• Rom 3:5 : 5 But if the righteousness of God is supported by our wrongdoing what is to be said? is it wrong for God to be angry (as men may say)?
• Rom 3:20 : 20 Because by the works of the law no man is able to have righteousness in his eyes, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
• Rom 9:20 : 20 But, O man, who are you, to make answer against God? May the thing which is made say to him who made it, Why did you make me so?
• Rom 10:3 : 3 Because, not having knowledge of God's righteousness, and desiring to give effect to their righteousness, they have not put themselves under the righteousness of God.