My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity: See the comments on 5.11. God will show no mercy or leniency to the land of Israel. New International Version tries to reflect the Hebrew idiom of my eye by saying “I will not look on you with pity or spare you” (similarly New American Bible), but it is important to find a natural expression that conveys the meaning accurately. The Hebrew verb rendered spare means “be lenient,” “let off,” or “withhold punishment.” The verb translated have pity means “be concerned for” or “show mercy,” so it is similar in meaning. Some languages may render it “love.” New Century Version reverses these two clauses, saying “I will have no pity on you; I will not hold back punishment from you.”

But I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst: The Hebrew word ki rendered but (also King James Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) is better translated as an emphatic particle, such as “surely” (New International Version). I will punish you for your ways, while your abominations are in your midst repeats the same words as in verse 3 in a slightly different order (see the comments there). The Hebrew verb for punish is the one that means that God will let the land of Israel suffer the effects of its people’s sinful deeds. While your abominations are in your midst implies that the punishment will last as long as the people commit disgusting deeds in the land. This is misleading because this second part of the sentence actually has almost the same meaning as the first part. It reads literally “and your abominations will be among you,” which means that the effects of the people’s disgusting deeds will work themselves out on the land, and will destroy it. So this sentence may be rendered “I will punish you for the way they have lived; the evil they did has brought this suffering on you.”

Then you will know that I am the LORD: Up to this point, every time the pronoun you or your is used in this verse, it is singular in Hebrew and refers to the land of Israel. But here the Hebrew pronoun for you is plural and must refer to the people of Israel. This change in number needs to be made explicit in translation; for example, translators may render this sentence as “Then you all [or, you people] will know for sure [or, will be convinced] that I am Yahweh.”

A model for this verse is:

• I will not show you [singular] any mercy or let you off. No! In fact, I will let you suffer for the evil deeds of your people. They disobeyed me and worshiped false gods, so you will pay the penalty for this. Then the people will know that I, Yahweh, did this.

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 .