Ezekiel 20:32
New International Version
“’You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.

New Living Translation
“You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen.

English Standard Version
“What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.’

Berean Standard Bible
When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

King James Bible
And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

New King James Version
What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’

New American Standard Bible
And whatever comes into your mind certainly will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

NASB 1995
“What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

NASB 1977
“And what comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.’

Legacy Standard Bible
And what comes upon your spirit will not happen, when you say: ‘We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to minister to wood and stone.’

Amplified Bible
What comes into your mind will never happen, when you say, ‘We will be like the [pagan] nations, like the tribes of the [Gentile] countries, serving [idols made of] wood and stone.’

Christian Standard Bible
“ ‘When you say, “Let’s be like the nations, like the clans of other countries, serving wood and stone,” what you have in mind will never happen.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of other countries, worshiping wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never happen.

American Standard Version
and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And that which is in your mind shall not happen, because you say, ‘We shall be like the nations and like the generations of the Earth, and we shall serve trees and stones”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it shall not be as ye say, We will be as the nations, and as the tribes of the earth, to worship stocks and stones.

Contemporary English Version
They may think they can be like other nations and get away with worshiping idols made of wood and stone. But that will never happen!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Neither shall the thought of your mind come to pass, by which you say: We will be as the Gentiles, and as the families of the earth, to worship stocks and stones.

English Revised Version
and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all; in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
What you have in mind will never happen. You think that you want to be like other nations, like the different people in other countries. You want to serve wood and stone.

Good News Translation
You have made up your minds that you want to be like the other nations, like the people who live in other countries and worship trees and rocks. But that will never be.

International Standard Version
The thing that you're imagining is never going to happen, since you're thinking, "We'll be like the nations, like the clans of other lands who serve gods made from wood and stone."'"

JPS Tanakh 1917
and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all; in that ye say: We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

Literal Standard Version
And that which is going up on your mind, | It is not at all—in that you are saying: We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, | To serve wood and stone.

Majority Standard Bible
When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

New American Bible
What has entered your mind shall never happen: You are thinking, “We shall be like the nations, like the peoples of foreign lands, serving wood and stone.”

NET Bible
"'What you plan will never happen. You say, "We will be like the nations, like the clans of the lands, who serve gods of wood and stone."

New Revised Standard Version
What is in your mind shall never happen—the thought, “Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries, and worship wood and stone.”

New Heart English Bible
and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, 'We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.'

Webster's Bible Translation
And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

World English Bible
“‘“That which comes into your mind will not be at all, in that you say, ‘We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’

Young's Literal Translation
And that which is going up on your mind, It is not at all -- in that ye are saying: We will be as the nations, as the families of the lands, To serve wood and stone.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Israel's Rebellion in the Land
31When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you! 32When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

Cross References
Jeremiah 2:25
You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, 'It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.'

Jeremiah 44:17
Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.

Ezekiel 11:5
And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: "That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds.


Treasury of Scripture

And that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, that you say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.

that which

Ezekiel 11:5
And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

Ezekiel 38:10
Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

Psalm 139:2
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

We will

1 Samuel 8:5
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

Jeremiah 44:17,29
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil…

Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

to serve

Deuteronomy 4:28
And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

Deuteronomy 28:36,64
The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone…

Deuteronomy 29:17
And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)

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Countries Families Heathen Lands Mind Minds Nations Peoples Servants Serve Serving Stone Thought Tribes Want Wood World Worship
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Countries Families Heathen Lands Mind Minds Nations Peoples Servants Serve Serving Stone Thought Tribes Want Wood World Worship
Ezekiel 20
1. God refuses to be consulted by the elders of Israel
4. He shows the story of their rebellions in Egypt
19. in the desert
27. and in the land
33. He promises to gather them by the Gospel
45. Under the name of a forest he shows the destruction of Jerusalem














(32) As the heathen.--The desire to be "like the nations that are round about," had long been a ruling ambition with the Israelites, as shown in their original desire for a king (1Samuel 8:5; 1Samuel 8:20), and this desire, as shown in the text, had been one chief reason for their tendency to idolatry.

The second part of this prophecy extends from Ezekiel 20:33 to Ezekiel 20:44, where the chapter closes in the Hebrew, and it would have been better if the same division had been observed in the English, as the fresh prophecy of Ezekiel 20:45-49 is more closely connected with the following chapter. The object of this concluding part of the prophecy is to declare the mingled severity and goodness with which God is about to deal with His people to wean them from their sins, and prepare them to receive His abundant blessing. . . .

Verse 32. - That which cometh into your mind, etc. The prophet reads tide secret thoughts of the inquirers. If the temple were destroyed, they thought, then the one restraint on the idolatries they loved would be removed. They would be no longer a separate people, and would be free to adopt the cultus of the heathen among whom they lived. If that was not Jehovah's purpose for them, then there must be no destruction of the temple, no dispersion among the nations. They come to Ezekiel to know which of the two alternatives he, as the prophet of Jehovah, has in store, and his answer is that he is bound to nether. They could not abdicate their high position, and would remain under the burden of its responsibilities. Scattered though they might be among the heathen, yet even there the "mighty hand and the stretched-out arm" (we note the phrases as from Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15) would hunt them down, and punish them for their iniquities.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When
אֲשֶׁ֣ר ׀ (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you
אַתֶּ֣ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

say:
אֹמְרִ֗ים (’ō·mə·rîm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Let us be
נִֽהְיֶ֤ה (nih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

like the nations,
כַגּוֹיִם֙ (ḵag·gō·w·yim)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts

like the peoples
כְּמִשְׁפְּח֣וֹת (kə·miš·pə·ḥō·wṯ)
Preposition-k | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 4940: A family, circle of relatives, a class, a species, sort, a tribe, people

of the lands,
הָאֲרָצ֔וֹת (hā·’ă·rā·ṣō·wṯ)
Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 776: Earth, land

serving
לְשָׁרֵ֖ת (lə·šā·rêṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Piel - Infinitive construct
Strong's 8334: To attend as a, menial, worshipper, to contribute to

wood
עֵ֥ץ (‘êṣ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6086: Tree, trees, wood

and stone,”
וָאָֽבֶן׃ (wā·’ā·ḇen)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 68: A stone

what you have in
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

mind
ר֣וּחֲכֶ֔ם (rū·ḥă·ḵem)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

will never
לֹ֣א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

happen.
תִֽהְיֶ֑ה (ṯih·yeh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 20:32 And that which comes into your mind (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 20:31
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