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Vulgate: Ezekiel: Ezekiel Chapter 20

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This is Ezekiel 20 in the Latin Vulgate, a prophetic oracle belonging to the Hebrew prophetic tradition of the 6th century BCE. The passage opens with God refusing to answer elders of Israel who come to consult him, instead delivering a historical indictment: a structured retrospective of Israel's repeated idolatry in Egypt, in the wilderness under Moses, and again among the next generation — each time God withheld full punishment not out of mercy for Israel but solely to protect his own reputation among the surrounding nations. A distinctive and theologically striking claim runs throughout: divine restraint is framed explicitly as self-interested, preserving God's "name" from being profaned before Gentiles who would otherwise conclude his power was limited. The oracle then pivots to future judgment and restoration — God will gather the dispersed people, bring them into a new wilderness for face-to-face reckoning, purge the rebels, and ultimately lead the faithful to worship on his holy mountain in Israel. The passage closes with a brief poetic oracle threatening fire across a southern forest (likely the Negev), after which Ezekiel complains that his audience dismisses his words as mere parables. The whole chapter is notable for its unflinching portrait of an unbroken pattern of Israelite failure alongside a God who acts repeatedly for his own glory rather than Israel's merit.

Vulgate: Ezekiel: Ezekiel Chapter 20

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