Ezekiel 11:21
in Ezekiel 11But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord Jehovah.
KJV
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God.
⋯
This verse in Ezekiel 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads
A warning stands beside it: “as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads.” Chapter 18 argues this personal accountability at length. The promise and the warning stand together, and neither cancels the other.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 17 and following) Therefore, speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall go there and remove all offenses and all abominations from it. And I will give them one heart (or I will give them a new heart) and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them; then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.' But as for those whose heart follows their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their way upon their own heads," declares the Lord God. This is a divine message to those who were captive in the land of Babylon, to the brothers of the prophet Ezekiel, and to the near ones to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem (or Israel) said: 'You have gone far from the Lord, the land has been given to us as a possession.' But these are the words that follow: 'I will gather you from the peoples and give you the land of Israel.' And when you have entered, you shall remove all idols, because of which you have offended God, and I will give you a unified heart of fear and servitude to God, so that you may not serve diverse idols, or any other than what you had before. And I will give a new spirit in your midst, according to what is written: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:12). And I will remove from you a heart of stone, that is, a hard heart, according to what Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, spoke: Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart (Acts 7:51). And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he would not let the people of Israel go (Exod. VII). […]
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
There needs no more than this to speak God righteous, that he does but render to men according to their deserts: and yet such are the deserts of sin that there needs no more than this to speak the sinner miserable. The Visions of the Divine Glory. 22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:25w-of-72
But as for them,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
whose heart . . . after . . . heart of . . . detestable things--The repetition of "heart" is emphatic, signifying that the heart of those who so obstinately clung to idols, impelled itself to fresh superstitions in one continuous tenor [CALVIN]. Perhaps it is implied that they and their idols are much alike in character (Ps 115:8).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
But as for them whose heart walketh - Them whose affections are attached to idolatry, they shall have such reward as their idols can give them, and such a recompense as Divine justice shall award them.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵ֧ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶ֛ם | shikutzeihem | detestable things their | H8251 → | 28 times |
| וְתוֹעֲבוֹתֵיהֶ֖ם | vetoavoteihem | and abominations their | H8441 → | 117 times |
| לִבָּ֣ם | libam | heart their | H3820 → | 595 times |
| הֹלֵ֑ךְ | holekh | [is] going | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| דַּרְכָּם֙ | darkam | conduct their | H1870 → | 707 times |
| בְּרֹאשָׁ֣ם | berosham | on own head their | H7218 → | 599 times |
| נָתַ֔תִּי | natati | I will requite | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| נְאֻ֖ם | neum | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֥י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
לֵ֧ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶ֛םdetestable things their
shikutzeihemH8251 →28 times
וְתוֹעֲבוֹתֵיהֶ֖םand abominations their
vetoavoteihemH8441 →117 times
לִבָּ֣םheart their
libamH3820 →595 times
הֹלֵ֑ךְ[is] going
holekhH1980 →1546 times
דַּרְכָּם֙conduct their
darkamH1870 →707 times
בְּרֹאשָׁ֣םon own head their
beroshamH7218 →599 times
נָתַ֔תִּיI will requite
natatiH5414 →2011 times
נְאֻ֖ם[the] utterance of
neumH5002 →376 times
אֲדֹנָ֥י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes,…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Ecclesiastes 12:1
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Lamentations 3:27
It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
Through
Ezekiel 11:18When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 5:11
Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ezekiel 5:11
Through
Jeremiah 1:16I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 19:4
because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in this place to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have ever…
- Jeremiah 7:9
Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
- Jeremiah 19:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.