CHAPTER 25*
Against Ammon. 1The word of the LORD came to me: 2Son of man, turn toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them.a 3Say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you jeered at my sanctuary when it was desecrated, at the land of Israel when it was destroyed, and at the house of Judah when they went into exile, 4therefore I am giving you to people from the east* as a possession. They shall set up their encampments among you and pitch their tents in your midst; they shall eat your produce and drink your milk.b 5And I will turn Rabbah into a pasture for camels and all of Ammon into a grazing place for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
6For thus says the Lord GOD: Because you rejoiced over the land of Israel with scorn in your heart, clapping your hands and stamping your feet, 7therefore, see, I am stretching out my hand against you and giving you up as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and wipe you out of the lands. I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD.c
Against Moab. 8d Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Moab said, “See! the house of Judah is like all the other nations,” 9therefore, I am exposing the whole flank of Moab* with its cities, the jewels of its land: Beth-jesimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim. 10I will hand it over, along with the Ammonites, to the people from the east that it may not be remembered among the nations. 11I will execute judgment upon Moab that they may know that I am the LORD.e
Against Edom. 12f Thus says the Lord GOD: Because Edom took vengeance on the house of Judah and incurred terrible guilt by taking vengeance on them, 13therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it human being and beast alike. I will turn it into ruins from Teman to Dedan; they shall fall by the sword.g 14I will put my vengeance against Edom into the hands of my people Israel; they will deal with Edom in accord with my furious anger. Thus they shall know my vengeance!—oracle of the Lord GOD.h
Against the Philistines. 15Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the Philistines acted vengefully and exacted vengeance with intentional malice, destroying with undying hostility,i 16therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See! I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites* and wipe out the remnant on the seacoast. 17Thus I will execute great acts of vengeance on them, punishing them furiously. Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I wreak my vengeance on them.
* [25:1–32:32] These chapters form a body of oracles directed against foreign nations. They follow the prophet’s condemnation of Judah and oracles announcing its destruction. The unit precedes the announcement of Judah’s salvation in chaps. 33–48.
* [25:1–17] Ezekiel condemns four nations for their reactions to Judah’s destruction and exile: Ammon to the east (vv. 2–7); Moab to the southeast (vv. 8–11); Edom to the south (vv. 12–14); Philistia to the west (vv. 15–17). Their hostility was not unprovoked; at one time or another, each one either lost territory to Israel or had been under Israelite control.
* [25:4] People from the east: nomadic tribes from the desert east of Ammon and Moab (cf. Is 11:14; Jer 49:28), often a threat to outlying towns and villages.
* [25:9] The whole flank of Moab: the eastern edge of the Moabite plateau, perhaps lightly fortified because the vast desert to the east provided a natural barrier to invasion.
* [25:16] Cherethites: people from the island of Crete in the Aegean, the Philistines’ point of origin. In Zep 2:5, the terms “Philistines,” “Cherethites,” and “seacoast people” describe the same group of people.
a. [25:2] Jer 49:1–6; Am 1:13–15; Zep 2:8–11.
d. [25:8] Sir 50:26; Is 15–16; Jer 48; Am 2:1–3.
f. [25:12] 2 Sm 8:13–14; 2 Chr 28:17; Ob 11–14.
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