Ezekiel 33:32
in Ezekiel 33Indeed, you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice, who skillfully plays an instrument. They hear your words but do not put them into practice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
KJV
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
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This verse in Ezekiel 33
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAs a very lovely song - They admired the fine voice and correct delivery of the prophet; this was their religion, and this is the whole of the religion of thousands to the present day; for never were itching ears so multiplied as now.
This site's exposition
your people are talking about you
on Ezekiel 33:30-33
The people gather to hear the prophet as an audience gathers for entertainment. Verse 32 names the comparison, “you are to them like a singer of love songs with a beautiful voice”. The closing verse makes the city's fall the proof that “a prophet has been among them”.
This site's exposition
a singer of love songs with
The closing line repeats verse 31 word for word, framing the portrait of the prophet as a singer of love songs. Jesus pictures the same hearer at Matthew 7:26, the man who hears and does not act, building on sand. James 1:22 calls believers to be doers of the word.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 30 onwards) And you, son of man, the children of your people speak of you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and they say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord.' And they come to you as the people usually come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them, for they show my words of their mouth in song, and their heart follows their covetousness.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice,....
They will not be persuaded by all the prophet can say, either by authority or argument, to cross themselves in any instance, to part with any one beloved sin, or apply themselves to any one duty that is against the grain to flesh and blood.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
very lovely song--literally, a "song of loves": a lover's song. They praise thy eloquence, but care not for the subject of it as a real and personal thing; just as many do in the modern church [JEROME]. play well on an instrument--Hebrew singers accompanied the "voice" with the harp.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִנְּךָ֤ | vehinekha | and there you | H2005 → | 316 times |
| לָהֶם֙ | lahem | to them | ||
| כְּשִׁ֣יר | keshir | [are] like a song of | H7892 → | |
| עֲגָבִ֔ים | ʾagavim | lustful desires | H5690 → | |
| יְפֵ֥ה | yepeh | [one] beautiful of | H3303 → | 42 times |
| ק֖וֹל | kol | voice | H6963 → | 506 times |
| וּמֵטִ֣ב | umetiv | and [one who] does well | H3190 → | |
| נַגֵּ֑ן | nagen | to play | H5059 → | |
| וְשָֽׁמְעוּ֙ | veshameu | and they hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּבָרֶ֔יךָ | devareikha | words your | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| וְעֹשִׂ֥ים | veosim | and [are] doing | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| אֵינָ֖ם | ʾeinam | not they | H369 → | 789 times |
| אוֹתָֽם׃ | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
וְהִנְּךָ֤and there you
vehinekhaH2005 →316 times
לָהֶם֙to them
lahem
כְּשִׁ֣יר[are] like a song of
keshirH7892 →
עֲגָבִ֔יםlustful desires
ʾagavimH5690 →
יְפֵ֥ה[one] beautiful of
yepehH3303 →42 times
ק֖וֹלvoice
kolH6963 →506 times
וּמֵטִ֣בand [one who] does well
umetivH3190 →
נַגֵּ֑ןto play
nagenH5059 →
וְשָֽׁמְעוּ֙and they hear
veshameuH8085 →1159 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּבָרֶ֔יךָwords your
devareikhaH1697 →1440 times
וְעֹשִׂ֥יםand [are] doing
veosimH6213 →2628 times
אֵינָ֖םnot they
ʾeinamH369 →789 times
אוֹתָֽם׃<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 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
John 5:35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 1:19
We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day…
- Matthew 11:11
Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
- John 1:7–8
He came as a witness to testify about the Light, so that through him everyone might believe.
- Matthew 3:5–7
People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region around the Jordan.
- Luke 1:76–77
And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him,
- 2 Peter 1:19
Through
Mark 6:20because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard John’s words, he was greatly perplexed; yet he listened to him gladly.
it leads to
- Matthew 21:26
But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the people, for they all regard John as a prophet.”
- Matthew 14:5
Although Herod wanted to kill John, he was afraid of the people, because they regarded John as a prophet.
- John 5:35
John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were willing for a season to bask in his light.
- Matthew 21:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.