15 If the evil-doer lets one who is in his debt have back what is his, and gives back what he had taken by force, and is guided by the rules of life, doing no evil; life will certainly be his, death will not overtake him.
And I gave them my rules and made clear to them my orders, which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him.
And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.
If a man takes without right another man's ox or his sheep, and puts it to death or gets a price for it, he is to give five oxen for an ox, or four sheep for a sheep, in payment: the thief will have to make payment for what he has taken; if he has no money, he himself will have to be exchanged for money, so that payment may be made. If a thief is taken in the act of forcing his way into a house, and his death is caused by a blow, the owner of the house is not responsible for his blood. But if it is after dawn, he will be responsible. If he still has what he had taken, whatever it is, ox or ass or sheep, he is to give twice its value.
And has done no wrong to any, but has given back to the debtor what is his, and has taken no one's goods by force, and has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;
So keep my rules and my decisions, which, if a man does them, will be life to him: I am the Lord.
Give orders to Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law for the burned offering: the offering is to be on the fire-wood on the altar all night till the morning; and the fire of the altar is to be kept burning. And the priest is to put on his linen robes and his linen trousers, and take up what is over of the offering after it has been burned on the altar, and put it by the side of the altar. Then having taken off his linen robes and put on other clothing, he is to take it away into a clean place, outside the tent-circle. The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it is never to go out; every morning the priest is to put wood on it, placing the burned offering in order on it, and there the fat of the peace-offering is to be burned.
Again, when the evil-doer, turning away from the evil he has done, does what is ordered and right, he will have life for his soul. Because he had fear and was turned away from all the wrong which he had done, life will certainly be his, death will not be his fate.
See, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man the outcome of his works. I am the First and the Last, the start and the end. A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town.
By every altar they are stretched on clothing taken from those who are in their debt, drinking in the house of their god the wine of those who have made payment for wrongdoing.
But the children would not be controlled by me; they were not guided by my rules, and they did not keep and do my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said I would let loose my passion on them to give full effect to my wrath against them in the waste land.
But the children of Israel would not be controlled by me in the waste land: they were not guided by my rules, and they were turned away from my orders, which, if a man does them, will be life to him; and they had no respect for my Sabbaths: then I said that I would let loose my passion on them in the waste land, and put an end to them.
If ever you take your neighbour's clothing in exchange for the use of your money, let him have it back before the sun goes down: For it is the only thing he has for covering his skin; what is he to go to sleep in? and when his cry comes up to me, I will give ear, for my mercy is great.
Or done wrong to any, or taken anything from one in his debt, or taken goods by force, but has given food to him who was in need of it, and clothing to him who was without it;
I will ever keep your orders in mind; for in them I have life.
The child without a father is forced from its mother's breast, and they take the young children of the poor for debt.
For you have taken your brother's goods when he was not in your debt, and have taken away the clothing of those who have need of it.
Be upright in judging the cause of the man from a strange country and of him who has no father; do not take a widow's clothing on account of a debt:
If you let your brother have the use of anything which is yours, do not go into his house and take anything of his as a sign of his debt; But keep outside till he comes out and gives it to you. If he is a poor man, do not keep his property all night; But be certain to give it back to him when the sun goes down, so that he may have his clothing for sleeping in, and will give you his blessing: and this will be put to your account as righteousness before the Lord your God.
No one is to take, on account of a debt, the stones with which grain is crushed: for in doing so he takes a man's living.
Say to the children of Israel, If a man or a woman does any of the sins of men, going against the word of the Lord, and is in the wrong; Let them say openly what they have done; and make payment for the wrong done, with the addition of a fifth part, and give it to him to whom the wrong was done. But if the man has no relation to whom the payment may be made, then the payment for sin made to the Lord will be the priest's, in addition to the sheep offered to take away his sin.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 33
Commentary on Ezekiel 33 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 33
The prophet has now come off his circuit, which he went as judge, in God's name, to try and pass sentence upon the neighbouring nations, and, having finished with them, and read them all their doom, in the eight chapters foregoing, he now returns to the children of his people, and receives further instructions what to say to them.
Eze 33:1-9
The prophet had been, by express order from God, taken off from prophesying to the Jews, just then when the news came that Jerusalem was invested, and close siege laid to it, ch. 24:27. But now that Jerusalem is taken, two years after, he is appointed again to direct his speech to them; and there his commission is renewed. If God had abandoned them quite, he would not have sent prophets to them; nor, if he had not had mercy in store for them, would he have shown them such things as these. In these verses we have,
Eze 33:10-20
These verses are the substance of what we had before (ch. 18:20, etc.) and they are so full and express a declaration of the terms on which people stand with God (as the former were of the terms on which ministers stand) that it is no wonder that they are here repeated, as those were, though we had the substance of them before. Observe here,
Now lay all this together, and then judge whether the way of the Lord be not equal, whether this will not justify God in the destruction of sinners and glorify him in the salvation of penitents. The conclusion of the whole matter is (v. 20): "O you house of Israel, though you are all involved now in the common calamity, yet there shall be a distinction of persons made in the spiritual and eternal state, and I will judge you every one after his ways.' Though they were sent into captivity by the lump, good fish and bad enclosed in the same net, yet there he will separate between the precious and the vile and will render to every man according to his works. Therefore God's way is equal and unexceptionable; but, as for the children of thy people, God turns them over to the prophet, as he did to Moses (Ex. 32:7): "They are thy people; I can scarcely own them for mine.' As for them, their way is unequal; this way which they have got of quarrelling with God and his prophets is absurd and unreasonable. In all disputes between God and his creatures it will certainly be found that he is in the right and they are in the wrong.
Eze 33:21-29
Here we have,
Eze 33:30-33
The foregoing verses spoke conviction to the Jews who remained in the land of Israel, who were monuments of sparing mercy and yet returned not to the Lord; in these verses those are reproved who were now in captivity in Babylon, under divine rebukes, and yet were not reformed by them. They are not indeed charged with the same gross enormities that the others are charged with. They made some show of religion and devotion; but their hearts were not right with God. The thing they are here accused of is mocking the messengers of the lord, one of their measure-filling sins, which brought this ruin upon them, and yet they were not cured of it. Two ways they mocked the prophet Ezekiel:-