Ezekiel 20:39

39 et vos domus Israhel haec dicit Dominus Deus singuli post idola vestra ambulate et servite eis quod si et in hoc non audieritis me et nomen meum sanctum pollueritis ultra in muneribus vestris et in idolis vestris

Ezekiel 20:39 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:39

As for you, O house of Israel
The then present house of Israel, and the elders of it, who were upon the spot with the prophet: go ye, serve ye everyone his idols;
or dunghill gods; since they liked not to serve the true God: this is not giving them leave to serve idols, or approving their idolatrous practices; but is said "ironically", as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, who compare it with ( Ecclesiastes 11:9 ) : and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me;
not only serve them now, but for the future; seeing ye choose not to hearken to my voice, to obey my laws, and to worship me, and me only; for it suggests, that it was better to attend to the service of the one, or of the other, and not halt between two opinions; but either, if the God of Israel was the true God, then serve him, and him only; but if Baal, or any other Heathen deity, was so, then serve them, and keep serving them: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts and with your
idols;
to worship him along with them, and them along with him; to pretend they worshipped him in them, and offered their gifts and sacrifices to him through them; and so made use of his name as a cover to their idolatrous practices: this was a polluting his name, and was abominable to him.

Ezekiel 20:39 In-Context

37 et subiciam vos sceptro meo et inducam vos in vinculis foederis
38 et eligam de vobis transgressores et impios et de terra incolatus eorum educam eos et terram Israhel non ingredientur et scietis quia ego Dominus
39 et vos domus Israhel haec dicit Dominus Deus singuli post idola vestra ambulate et servite eis quod si et in hoc non audieritis me et nomen meum sanctum pollueritis ultra in muneribus vestris et in idolis vestris
40 in monte sancto meo in monte excelso Israhel ait Dominus Deus ibi serviet mihi omnis domus Israhel omnes inquam in terra in qua placebunt mihi et ibi quaeram primitias vestras et initium decimarum vestrarum in omnibus sanctificationibus vestris
41 in odorem suavitatis suscipiam vos cum eduxero vos de populis et congregavero vos de terris in quas dispersi estis et sanctificabor in vobis in oculis nationum
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.