My hand will be against the prophets means God will punish the false prophets (compare 6.14). My hand is an image for God’s power. Often this image is used for God empowering Ezekiel (see, for example, 1.3), but here it refers to God punishing the false prophets. There is a subtle play on words here—the false prophets should have felt God’s power on them to pass on his message, but instead they felt his power only in punishment. Some translations retain the image of God’s hand here; for example, Revised English Bible says “I shall raise my hand against the prophets,” and New Living Translation has “I will raise my fist against all the prophets.” This can only be done in languages that use the image of a raised hand to show anger or threatened punishment. Languages without this imagery will do better to follow Good News Translation, which says “I am about to punish you prophets.”
In the previous verse the second person was used to refer to the false prophets, but here the third person is used for them. Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch insert the pronoun “you” to make it clear that the same people are being referred to in this verse as in verse 8. Contemporary English Version, on the other hand, avoids possible confusion by changing to third person for the prophets in verse 8. Translators may follow either approach, provided they are consistent.
Who see delusive visions and who give lying divinations: See the comments on verses 6-7.
They shall not be in the council of my people: As punishment for their sins, the false prophets will not be able to participate in meetings where decisions are taken for their nation. This clause may be rendered “they will not be able to attend the meetings of my people, the Israelites.”
Nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel: They also will not be able to have their names on “the list of the citizens of Israel” (Good News Translation). They will no longer be part of the nation. If an active verb is required here, translators may say “and no one will write their names on the list of the people who belong to the nation of Israel.” For the house of Israel, see Ezek 13.5.
Nor shall they enter the land of Israel: They will not even be allowed to go to their own country. Ezekiel may be thinking here of the false prophets who were in Babylonia with him. He says they will not be able to return home to Jerusalem from the exile. This clause may be rendered “and they will not be allowed to return to the land of Israel.”
And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD: The pronoun you probably refers to the false prophets, as in verse 8. The punishment they receive will force them to acknowledge God. But it is also possible that this pronoun refers to the people of Israel in general (see Ezek 13.4). If so, it will be Ezekiel’s audience who will recognize God by his actions against the false prophets. Translators who follow this understanding may need to make it clear by rendering this clause as “Then you people of Israel will know for sure that I am the Lord Yahweh.”
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 .