And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation: These two clauses expand on what is said in the previous verse, so the conjunction And may be omitted (so New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). The cities and countryside of Judah will be ruined and deserted. The original meaning of the Hebrew expressions rendered be laid waste and become a desolation is “deserted” or “uninhabited,” that is, “where no one lives or goes,” but they can sometimes have the extended meaning of “destroyed” or “ruined.” These two expressions are often used together in Ezekiel (see 6.6, where the verb rendered be laid waste is translated “be waste,” and where the verb rendered “be … ruined” comes from the same root as the noun for desolation). These clauses may be rendered “The towns [or, villages] where people now live will be broken down and empty, and the countryside will be useless and deserted” or “Enemies will break down and destroy the towns where people now live, and the countryside will be empty.”

And you shall know that I am the LORD: Ezekiel’s audience will only recognize God after he has destroyed Jerusalem and the rest of the land of Judah. Here again is the theme of people recognizing and acknowledging God by what he has done (see verse 15). The conjunction and is better rendered “Then” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) or “Thus” (Revised English Bible) in this context. Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version render this sentence as “Then they will know that I am the LORD.” This rendering arises from a misunderstanding of Ezekiel’s audience (see the comments on verse 19). The pronoun you refers to the people in exile with Ezekiel. Translators should retain the second person pronoun.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .