Say to it: This quote frame is still part of God’s command to Ezekiel. It may be rendered “and this is what you must say to them.”

Thus says the Lord GOD: Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew). New Century Version renders this clause as “This is what the Lord GOD says.”

Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir: Behold renders the emphatic Hebrew word hinneh. Here it highlights the following message of God’s judgment on Edom. I am against you is a common expression in Ezekiel when God is about to punish somebody (see the comments on 5.8). For Mount Seir, see the previous verse. It is a vocative expression here, showing who is being addressed. For those languages that cannot address a mountain, it is acceptable to use the third person throughout this passage instead of the second person you. An example for this clause is “Look, Mount Seir is my enemy. I am going to punish it.”

And I will stretch out my hand against you: The hand of God symbolizes his power and strength, which he will stretch out to punish the country of Edom (see the comments on 6.14).

And I will make you a desolation and a waste: For the Hebrew words rendered desolation and waste, see the comments on 6.14. Contemporary English Version combines them, saying “empty wasteland,” and so do New International Reader’s Version and New Century Version with “empty desert.” This clause may be rendered “and make you an empty wasteland.”

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 .