For any one of the house of Israel …: Apart from three small additions, the wording of this verse is exactly the same as verse 4 (see the comments there). The Hebrew particle ki rendered For introduces why the Israelites should leave their idols and turn back to God.

The strangers that sojourn in Israel were non-Israelites. They lived in Israel as resident aliens; the Law of Moses gave them protection and certain privileges. Good News Translation says “foreigners who live in the Israelite community.”

Who separates himself from me applies to the Israelites and resident aliens alike. The Hebrew verb rendered separates means to dedicate or consecrate oneself. It is usually used with the Hebrew preposition meaning “to” and applies to people dedicating themselves to God. Here it is used with the preposition meaning from, forming a very strong statement of how the people were turning away from God. Separates himself from may be rendered “breaks away from” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “renounces” (Revised English Bible), “rejects” (Contemporary English Version), “deserts” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “abandons” (Moffatt), but “turn away from” (Good News Translation) is too weak.

To inquire for himself of me makes explicit why the person went to the prophet—it was to consult God through the prophet. New Jerusalem Bible says “to consult me through him” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), and Contemporary English Version has “to find out what I say.”

I the LORD will answer him myself: As mentioned above, this verse contributed to some confusion in verse 4. Here the reading is perfectly clear. It means that God will answer the question “directly” (Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or “in person” (New American Bible; similarly New American Standard Bible, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

In verses 7-11 Contemporary English Version simplifies the discourse structure by using second person pronouns instead of third person pronouns for the Israelites since God is addressing them. Translators are encouraged to do the same if that is appropriate in their languages.

A model for this verse is:

• Any Israelites or foreigners living in Israel who come to consult with the prophet even though they have rejected me and love to worship idols, and even have set up right in front of their eyes the very thing that makes them sin more, those are people I, Yahweh, will answer myself.

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 .