“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This isn't just about honest trading; it's about the princes' responsibility to establish and uphold just standards for everyone. God demands that their leadership ensures fairness in every transaction, both for dry goods and liquids, as a reflection of His own righteous character.
“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Ezekiel is describing a future, restored temple and land where justice and righteousness will reign. Following instructions for the princes to rule with fairness, the text shifts to regulating commerce and trade, emphasizing that honest dealings are essential to God's ordered community, even within the context of worship and offerings. This call for accuracy in weights and measures directly combats the deceit and oppression previously condemned in the Old Testament prophets.
This verse isn't just about scales and containers. It speaks directly to leadership and the responsibility to ensure justice in the marketplace.
Ezekiel is addressing the princes, the leaders, in this vision. While they might not have been personally trading grains and oils, their role was to establish and enforce honest standards.
Setting the Standard
The princes were to ensure that 'just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath' were the norm. This meant appointing accurate weights and measures that applied equally to everyone.
Combating Deception
This command directly contrasts with the corrupt practices mentioned elsewhere in Scripture, where people would cheat by using smaller measures to sell goods and larger ones to buy. The prince's responsibility was to prevent such dishonesty.
Beyond just the physical tools of trade, this verse calls for a deeper integrity that touches every part of life.
The 'just ephah' (for dry goods) and 'just bath' (for liquids) represent the specific tools of commerce. But the principle goes much deeper.
More Than Just Math
Having just measures isn't merely about numerical accuracy; it's about a commitment to truth and fairness in all dealings. It's about not taking advantage of others, whether in buying or selling.
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Reflecting God's Character
When people use honest measures, they reflect God's own character of justice and righteousness. This integrity builds trust and honors the principles of God's kingdom.
Understand the original words
ephah · Hebrew Noun
An ancient Hebrew unit of dry measure, equivalent to about 22 liters, often used in commercial transactions where honesty was required.
bath · Hebrew Noun
An ancient Hebrew unit of liquid measure, equivalent to the ephah, symbolizing the necessity of integrity and truthfulness in all business dealings to prevent the exploitation of the poor.
This verse calls for justice in weights and measures, a direct response to the corrupt practices that contributed to Judah's downfall and were common during the exile. It emphasizes that a restored community must be built on integrity, not deceit.
c. 722 BC
Fall of Samaria
The Northern Kingdom of Israel falls to the Assyrian Empire, leading to the exile of many Israelites and the disruption of established societal norms and practices.
586 BC
Fall of Jerusalem
The Southern Kingdom of Judah is conquered by the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed. Many Judeans are exiled to Babylon.
c. 593 BC
Ezekiel's Call and Prophecy Begins
Ezekiel, an exile in Babylon, receives his prophetic call and begins delivering messages of judgment and hope to the exiles, including visions of a restored Temple and city.
c. 570 BC— this verse
Ezekiel's Vision of the New Temple
Ezekiel receives a detailed vision of a future Temple, city, and land, which forms the basis for the instructions and regulations he delivers in the latter part of his book, including the verse in question.
c. 538 BC
Edict of Cyrus
Following the Persian conquest of Babylon, Cyrus the Great allows the Jewish exiles to return to Judah and rebuild the Temple, marking the beginning of the Second Temple period.
This passage directly commands the Israelites to use just balances, weights, and measures, echoing Ezekiel's call for fairness in commerce.
Deuteronomy 25:15This verse reinforces the importance of perfect and just weights and measures, highlighting that such integrity is pleasing to the Lord, just as Ezekiel emphasizes.
Proverbs 11:1Solomon warns that dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, aligning with Ezekiel's vision that true justice, including fair dealings, is a hallmark of God's restored community.
Amos 8:5Amos condemns the very practices of making measures small and falsifying scales that Ezekiel's prophecy implicitly seeks to eradicate, showing the historical reality of such dishonesty.
Micah 6:11Micah pronounces woe upon those who use dishonest measures, underscoring the spiritual significance of fair trade that Ezekiel's call for just measures represents.
clarkeEzekiel 45:10: "Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath."
Ye shall have just balances - This appreciation of weights, measures, and money was intended to show them that they must not introduce those to which they had been accustomed in the captivity, but those which God had prescribed to their forefathers. See the notes on the parallel places.
pulpitEzekiel 45:10: "Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath."
Verse 10. - The exhortation addressed to the princes to practice justice and judgment now extends itself so as to include their subjects, who are required, in all their commercial dealings, to have just balances and just measures - a just ephah for dry goods, and a just bath for liquids (compare the prescriptions in Leviticus 19:35, 36 and Deuteronomy 25:13 - 15, and contrast the practices in Hosea 12:7; Amos 8:5;…
This isn't just about honest trading; it's about the princes' responsibility to establish and uphold just standards for everyone. God demands that their leadership ensures fairness in every transaction, both for dry goods and liquids, as a reflection of His own righteous character.
Ezekiel is describing a future, restored temple and land where justice and righteousness will reign. Following instructions for the princes to rule with fairness, the text shifts to regulating commerce and trade, emphasizing that honest dealings are essential to God's ordered community, even within the context of worship and offerings. This call for accuracy in weights and measures directly combats the deceit and oppression previously condemned in the Old Testament prophets.
Ezekiel is describing a future, restored temple and land where justice and righteousness will reign. Following instructions for the princes to rule with fairness, the text shifts to regulating commerce and trade, emphasizing that honest dealings are essential to God's ordered community, even within the context of worship and offerings. This call for accuracy in weights and measures directly combats the deceit and oppression previously condemned in the Old Testament prophets.
"“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath." — This isn't just about honest trading; it's about the princes' responsibility to establish and uphold just standards for everyone. God demands that their leadership ensures fairness in every transac…
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Last reviewed October 2026