Ezekiel 13:20

Bishop's Bible

Wherfore thus saith the Lorde God: Beholde, I wyll vpon your pillowes wherwith ye hunt the soules, to make them flee, and I will teare them from your armes, and wyll let the soules go, [euen] the soules that ye hunt to make them to flee.

Parallel Translations

English Standard Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord God : Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore thus saith the Lorde God, Behold, I will haue to do with your pillowes, wherewith yee hunt the soules to make them to flie, and I will teare them from your armes, and will let the soules goe, euen the soules, that ye hunt to make them to flie.

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic bands with which you ensnare people like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. I will free the people you have ensnared like birds.

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make [them] fly.

Darby Translation
Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, that the souls which ye catch by their means may fly away; and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, the souls that ye catch, that they may fly away.

Easy-to-Read Version
So this is what the Lord God says to you: You make those cloth bracelets to trap people, but I will set them free. I will tear those bracelets off your arms, and the people will be free from you. They will be like birds flying from a trap.

Amplified Bible
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against your magic bands [and veils] by which you hunt [human] lives as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the lives you hunt go free, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.

American Standard Version
Wherefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'See, I am against the magic charms with which you ensnare souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms. I will free the souls you have ensnared.

Contemporary English Version
I hate the magic charms they use to trick people into believing their lies. I will rip those charms from their wrists and set free the people they have trapped like birds.

Complete Jewish Bible
Therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says: ‘I am against your pads, with which you hunt human lives like birds; I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go, yes, the human lives that you hunt like birds.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your cushions, wherewith ye hunt the souls as birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt as birds.

King James Version (1611)
Wherefore thus sayth the Lord God, Behold, I am against your pillowes, wherewith yee there hunt the soules to make them flie, and I will teare them from your armes, and will let the soules goe, euen the soules that ye hunt to make them flie.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against your pillows, whereby ye there confound souls, and I will tear them away from your arms, and will set at liberty their souls which ye pervert to scatter them.

English Revised Version
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

Lexham English Bible
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against your magic charm bands with which you are ensnaring persons as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you are ensnaring, treating persons as birds.

Literal Translation
So the Lord Jehovah says this: Behold, I am against your amulets with which you are hunting the souls there, to make them fly. And I will tear them from your arms, and will send outthe souls, souls which you are hunting, to make

New Century Version
"‘So this is what the Lord God says: I am against your magic charms, by which you trap people as if they were birds. I will tear those charms off your arms, and I will free those people you have trapped like birds.

New English Translation
"‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Take note that I am against your wristbands with which you entrap people's lives like birds. I will tear them from your arms and will release the people's lives, which you hunt like birds.

New King James Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against your magic charms by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds.

New Living Translation
"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against all your magic charms, which you use to ensnare my people like birds. I will tear them from your arms, setting my people free like birds set free from a cage.

New Life Bible
So the Lord God says, "I am against your objects with secret powers that you wear on your arms with which you trap people like birds. I will tear them from your arms. And I will let the people go that you trap like birds.

New Revised Standard
Therefore thus says the Lord God : I am against your bands with which you hunt lives; I will tear them from your arms, and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Therefore, Thus saith my Lord Yahweh, Behold me! against your oracle-cases where. with ye are hunting the souls to make them fly, And I will tear them off your arms, And let go the souls of them whose souls ye are hunting as birds;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I declare against your cushions, wherewith you catch flying souls: and I will tear them off from your arms: and I will let go the soul that you catch, the souls that should fly.

George Lamsa Translation
Wherefore thus says the LORD God: Behold, I am against your embroidered garments with which you hunt the souls of the people, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will set free the souls of those that you hunt, and I will cause them to fly.

Good News Translation
Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "I hate the wristbands that you use in your attempt to control life and death. I will rip them off your arms and set free the people that you were controlling.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says: "Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you capture souls there as birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, those souls whom you capture as birds.

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against your pillows, with which ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, [even] the souls that ye hunt to make [them] fly.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For this thing the Lord God seith these thingis, Lo! Y to youre cuschens, bi whiche ye disseyuen soulis fliynge; and Y schal al to-breke tho fro youre armes, and Y schal delyuere soulis which ye disseyuen, soulis to fle.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against your pillows, With which ye are hunting there the souls of the flourishing, And I have rent them from off your arms, And have sent away the souls that ye are hunting, The souls of the flourishing.

World English Bible
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls who you hunt to make [them] fly.

Revised Standard Version
"Wherefore thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against your magic bands with which you hunt the souls, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls that you hunt go free like birds.

Update Bible Version
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look, I am against your pillows, with which you there hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that you hunt to make [them] fly.

Bible in Basic English
For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am against your bands with which you go after souls, and I will violently take them off their arms; and I will let loose the souls, even the souls whom you go after freely.

King James Version
Wherefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Wherfore thus saieth the LORDE God: Beholde, I wil also vpo the pillowes, wherwith ye catch the soules in flyenge: the will I take from youre armes, & let the soules go, that ye catch in flyenge.

THE MESSAGE
"Therefore God says, ‘I am against all the devices and techniques you use to hunt down souls. I'll rip them out of your hands. I'll free the souls you're trying to catch. I'll rip your magic bracelets and scarves to shreds and deliver my people from your influence so they'll no longer be victimized by you. That's how you'll come to realize that I am God .

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt lives there as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let them go, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I am against your magic bands by which you hunt souls there as birds, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let their souls go, the very souls whom you hunt as birds.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ Wherefore O thou sonne of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, whiche prophecie out of their owne heartes, and prophecie against them: ¹⁸ And say, thus saith the Lorde God: Wo be vnto them that sowe pillowes vnder all arme holes, and put kirchifes vpon the heades of euery stature to hunt soules. Wyll ye hunt the soules of my people, and geue life to the soules that [come] vnto you? ¹⁹ And wyll ye pollute me to my people for handfuls of barly, and for peeces of bread, to kyll the soules of them that dye not, and promise life to them that liue not, in lying to my people that heareth your lyes? ²⁰ Wherfore thus saith the Lorde God: Beholde, I wyll vpon your pillowes wherwith ye hunt the soules, to make them flee, and I will teare them from your armes, and wyll let the soules go, [euen] the soules that ye hunt to make them to flee. ²¹ Your kirchifes also wyll I teare in peeces, and deliuer my people out of your handes, so that they shall come no more in your handes to be hunted: and ye shall knowe that I am the Lorde. ²² Seeing that with your lyes you discomfort the heart of the righteous, who I haue not discomforted: Againe, forsomuche as ye encourage the hande of the wicked, so that he may not turne from his wicked way in promising hym life: ²³ Therfore shall ye see no more vanitie, neither shall ye deuine diuinations, for I wyll deliuer my people out of your hande, that ye may knowe howe that I am the Lorde.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I am: Ezekiel 13:8, Ezekiel 13:9, Ezekiel 13:15, Ezekiel 13:16

to make them fly: or, into gardens

and will: 2 Timothy 3:8, 2 Timothy 3:9

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 23:30 - General

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, I [am] against your pillows,.... Not only had an abhorrence of them, but was determined to destroy them, detect their fallacies, and expose the folly of such actions, and them to shame and contempt:

wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make [them] fly; to the places where they prophesied; into the toils and nets they spread for them, in order to catch them with their divinations and prophecies, and make a gain of them: or, "into the gardens", or "groves" o; there to commit idolatry, Isaiah 65:3;

and I will tear them from your arms; by which it seems that those pillows were not only put under the arms of those that came to inquire of these female prophets or fortune tellers; but they put them under their own arms, and lay upon them as if they were asleep, and in a trance or ecstasy; and so the kerchiefs or veils were upon their heads, which covered their faces, to show that they were quite retired from the world, and wholly attentive to the visions and revelations they pretended were made them by the Lord; and which they gave out, in this superstitious way, to the credulous people that flocked about them:

and will let the souls go, [even] the souls that ye hunt to make [them] fly; which were captivated with their superstitions; drawn into their nets and snares; decoyed into the gardens, where they were prevailed upon to sacrifice to idols, and were taken with their soothsaying and lying divinations; these the Lord promises to break the snare for them, and set them at liberty, and preserve them from that ruin and destruction they were ready to come into; see Psalms 124:7.

o לפרחות "in floralia", Junius Tremellius, Polanus, Starckius "in floridis hortis", Piscator.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A rebuke to the false prophetesses, and a declaration that God will confound them, and deliver their victims from their snares. Women were sometimes inspired by the true God, as were Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, and Huldah; but an order of prophetesses was unknown among the people of God, and the existence of such a class in the last days of the kings of Judah was a fresh instance of declension into pagan usages.

Ezekiel 13:18-21. Render thus: “Woe to the women that” put charms on every finger-joint, that set veils upon heads of every height to ensnare souls. “Will ye” ensnare “the souls of my people,” and keep your own souls alive, and will ye profane my name “among my people for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to” keep alive “the souls that should not live, by lying to my people” who listen to “a lie? Wherefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold” I will come upon your charms, where ye are ensnaring the souls like birds; “and I will tear them from your arms and will let the souls go” free, “even the souls” which ye are ensnaring like birds. “Your” veils “also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be” ensnared; “and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

Most ancient interpreters and many modern interpreters have understood the “pillows” (or charms) and “kerchiefs” (or veils), as appliances to which the sorcerers had resort in order to attract notice. The veil was a conspicuous ornament in the east - women whatever their “stature” (or, height) putting them on - and it was worn by magicians in order to seem more mysterious and awful.

Ezekiel 13:19

Pollute me - Profane Me by your false words, which ye pretend to be from Me.

Handfuls of barley - Such were the gifts with which men used to approach a seer (compare 1 Samuel 9:7-8; 1 Kings 14:3).

Ezekiel 13:20

To make them fly - If the marginal reading “into gardens” be adopted, it must mean, Ye entice men to the gardens or groves, where magical arts are practiced. That groves were used for this purpose and for idolatrous rites is notorious.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 13:20. The souls that ye hunt to make them fly. — לפרחות lephorechoth, into the flower gardens, says Parkhurst. These false prophetesses decoyed men into these gardens, where probably some impure rites of worship were performed, as in that of אשרה Asherah or Venus. See Parkhurst under פרח.