Ezekiel 20:35
New International Version
I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you.

New Living Translation
I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will judge you face to face.

English Standard Version
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

Berean Standard Bible
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

King James Bible
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

New King James Version
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face.

New American Standard Bible
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

NASB 1995
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

NASB 1977
and I shall bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I shall enter into judgment with you face to face.

Legacy Standard Bible
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

Amplified Bible
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.

Christian Standard Bible
I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you there face to face.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you there face to face.

American Standard Version
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

Contemporary English Version
and lead you into a desert surrounded by nations. I will meet you there face to face. Then I will pass judgment on you

English Revised Version
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I will bring you into the desert of the nations. There I will put you on trial face to face.

Good News Translation
I will bring you into the 'Desert of the Nations,' and there I will condemn you to your face.

International Standard Version
I'll bring you into the wilderness of the nations. I'll judge you right there, face to face.

Majority Standard Bible
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

NET Bible
I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

New Heart English Bible
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

World English Bible
I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And I have brought you into the wilderness of the peoples, "" And have been judged with you there face to face.

Young's Literal Translation
And I have brought you in unto the wilderness of the peoples, And have been judged with you there face to face.

Smith's Literal Translation
And I brought you into the desert of the peoples, and I judged you there face to face.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will bring you into the wilderness of people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you, face to face.

New American Bible
I will lead you to the wilderness of the peoples and enter into judgment with you face to face.

New Revised Standard Version
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the Gentiles, and there will I judge you face to face.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And I shall bring you to the wilderness of the Gentiles, and I shall judge you there, face to face
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, and will plead with you there face to face.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment and Restoration
34With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered. 35And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face. 36Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD.…

Cross References
Hosea 2:14
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her and lead her to the wilderness, and speak to her tenderly.

Jeremiah 2:2
“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.

Isaiah 40:3
A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.

Jeremiah 31:2
This is what the LORD says: “The people who survived the sword found favor in the wilderness when Israel went to find rest.”

Deuteronomy 8:2
Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.

Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place for her to be nourished for 1,260 days.

Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Revelation 17:3
And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.

Numbers 14:33-34
Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. / In keeping with the forty days you spied out the land, you shall bear your guilt forty years—a year for each day—and you will experience My alienation.

Isaiah 35:1
The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

Luke 4:1
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.

Jeremiah 31:9
They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

Isaiah 63:13
who led them through the depths like a horse in the wilderness, so that they did not stumble?


Treasury of Scripture

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.

I will

Ezekiel 20:36
Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 19:13
And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

Ezekiel 38:8
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

and there

Ezekiel 17:20
And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.

Ezekiel 38:22
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

Jeremiah 2:9,35
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead…

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Cause Desert Enter Execute Face Judged Judgment Nations Peoples Plead Waste Wilderness
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Cause Desert Enter Execute Face Judged Judgment Nations Peoples Plead Waste Wilderness
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














And I will bring you
This phrase signifies God's active role in guiding His people. The Hebrew root for "bring" is "yatsa," which often implies a purposeful leading out or delivering. Historically, this echoes the Exodus narrative, where God led the Israelites out of Egypt. It underscores God's sovereignty and His commitment to His covenant people, even when they are in rebellion.

into the wilderness
The "wilderness" in Hebrew is "midbar," a place of desolation and testing. Biblically, the wilderness is a recurring theme where God refines and tests His people, as seen in the Israelites' 40-year journey. It symbolizes a place of transformation and preparation, where reliance on God is paramount. This setting is not just physical but spiritual, representing a state of being where God can work intimately with His people.

of the nations
This phrase indicates that the wilderness experience is not isolated to Israel but involves the broader context of the nations. It suggests a dispersion among the Gentiles, reflecting the historical context of the Babylonian exile. Theologically, it points to God's universal sovereignty and His plan to use Israel as a light to the nations, even in judgment.

where I will enter into judgment
The Hebrew word for "judgment" is "shaphat," which means to govern or to pass sentence. This is a divine evaluation of Israel's faithfulness to the covenant. It is both corrective and redemptive, aiming to restore the relationship between God and His people. This judgment is not merely punitive but is intended to bring about repentance and renewal.

with you face to face
The phrase "face to face" in Hebrew is "panim el panim," indicating a direct and personal encounter. This is reminiscent of Moses' encounters with God, where there was an intimate and unmediated communication. It emphasizes the seriousness of the judgment and the personal nature of God's relationship with His people. It is a call to accountability and a reminder of the covenantal bond that requires sincere devotion and obedience.

(35) Into the wilderness of the people.--As in the past there was a period of probation and discipline in the wilderness, so shall there be in the future. The similarity is insisted upon in Ezekiel 20:36, and the phrase "face to face" is taken from Deuteronomy 5:4, not to show that the Lord will interpose again with the same sensible manifestations, but will plead with them in ways equally adapted, in their more advanced condition, to show them His overruling hand. As this phrase is plainly to be understood according to its sense, and not according to the letter, so it is quite idle to attempt to locate "the wilderness of the people" as any material wilderness, as that of Arabia, or that between Babylonia and Palestine. The phrase must mean that wilderness condition of the people, scattered among the nations, in which the Lord will plead with them as He did with their fathers. This might refer, as some commentators think, to the state of the Jews in our own time, dispersed among all nations; but there is nothing in the connection to indicate so distant a future, and it may quite as well refer to the then approaching condition of the people. Already many thousands of them had been carried captive to Babylon; others (see Jeremiah 10:12; Jeremiah 43:5) had been scattered among all the surrounding nations; the mass of the ten tribes had long before been carried by the king of Assyria to other regions; and the large remnant still left in Judaea, influenced by their own fears, soon afterwards went down to Egypt. In Ezekiel's own life-time, Israel was scattered widely among all the prominent nations of the earth, and thus brought into the "wilderness of the people."



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And I will bring
וְהֵבֵאתִ֣י (wə·hê·ḇê·ṯî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

you
אֶתְכֶ֔ם (’eṯ·ḵem)
Direct object marker | second person masculine plural
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

into
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the wilderness
מִדְבַּ֖ר (miḏ·bar)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4057: A pasture, a desert, speech

of the nations,
הָֽעַמִּ֑ים (hā·‘am·mîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

[where]
שָׁ֔ם (šām)
Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

I will enter into judgment
וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּ֤י (wə·niš·paṭ·tî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 8199: To judge, pronounce sentence, to vindicate, punish, to govern, to litigate

with you
אִתְּכֶם֙ (’it·tə·ḵem)
Preposition | second person masculine plural
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

face
פָּנִ֖ים (pā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6440: The face

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

face.
פָּנִֽים׃ (pā·nîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 6440: The face


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 20:35 And I will bring you into (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 20:34
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