Say to them: In response to the people’s question, God tells Ezekiel to give them his message.

Thus says the Lord GOD: Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew), the name of God.

This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it: The word oracle is a technical term for a message that God gives through a prophet. It usually involves a message of judgment. Oracle may be rendered “message from God.” Here the Hebrew word for prince is just another word for “king” (New Century Version). It does not mean “son of a king” in this context, so Contemporary English Version has “leader” and Revised English Bible says “ruler.” The house of Israel refers to the people of Israel (see Ezek 12.6). Revised Standard Version adds the ambiguous word concerns. This sentence could mean that the prophecy contains a message for the Israelite people and their king in Jerusalem (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New Living Translation), or a message against them (so Jerusalem Bible). On the other hand, it could mean that the message is about them (so New Century Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). Since there is no word for concerns in the Hebrew text, it is not possible to be definite, but in the context it is more likely that the message is about the king and his people in Jerusalem, rather than being addressed to them. In Hebrew the text of this message is confusing. Some versions try to understand it by deleting the word prince; for example, New Jerusalem Bible renders this sentence as “This prophecy concerns Jerusalem and the whole House of Israel who live there” (similarly New American Bible). There is no justification for this deletion. Instead of who are in it, the Hebrew reads “who are among them” (New King James Version ; similarly King James Version). Since the Hebrew text makes no sense, most translations change it to read “who are within it [namely, Jerusalem],” which we recommend. A possible model for this sentence is “This message from God is about the ruler [or, chief] in Jerusalem and all the people of Israel who live there.”

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 .