Ezekiel 21:1-17
New Living Translation
The Lord’s Sword of Judgment
21 [a]Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, turn and face Jerusalem and prophesy against Israel and her sanctuaries. 3 Tell her, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am your enemy, O Israel, and I am about to unsheath my sword to destroy your people—the righteous and the wicked alike. 4 Yes, I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked! I will draw my sword against everyone in the land from south to north. 5 Everyone in the world will know that I am the Lord. My sword is in my hand, and it will not return to its sheath until its work is finished.’
6 “Son of man, groan before the people! Groan before them with bitter anguish and a broken heart. 7 When they ask why you are groaning, tell them, ‘I groan because of the terrifying news I have heard. When it comes true, the boldest heart will melt with fear; all strength will disappear. Every spirit will faint; strong knees will become as weak as water. And the Sovereign Lord says: It is coming! It’s on its way!’”
8 Then the Lord said to me, 9 “Son of man, give the people this message from the Lord:
“A sword, a sword
is being sharpened and polished.
10 It is sharpened for terrible slaughter
and polished to flash like lightning!
Now will you laugh?
Those far stronger than you have fallen beneath its power![b]
11 Yes, the sword is now being sharpened and polished;
it is being prepared for the executioner.
12 “Son of man, cry out and wail;
pound your thighs in anguish,
for that sword will slaughter my people and their leaders—
everyone will die!
13 It will put them all to the test.
What chance do they have?[c]
says the Sovereign Lord.
14 “Son of man, prophesy to them
and clap your hands.
Then take the sword and brandish it twice,
even three times,
to symbolize the great massacre,
the great massacre facing them on every side.
15 Let their hearts melt with terror,
for the sword glitters at every gate.
It flashes like lightning
and is polished for slaughter!
16 O sword, slash to the right,
then slash to the left,
wherever you will,
wherever you want.
17 I, too, will clap my hands,
and I will satisfy my fury.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Ezekiel 21:1-17
New English Translation
The Sword of Judgment
21 (21:6)[a] The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward[b] Jerusalem and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to them,[c] ‘This is what the Lord says: Look,[d] I am against you.[e] I will draw my sword[f] from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.[g] 4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone[h] from the south[i] to the north. 5 Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again!’
6 “And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart[j] and bitterness; groan before their eyes. 7 When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone[k] will faint, and every knee will be wet with urine.’[l] Pay attention—it is coming and it will happen, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
8 The Lord’s message came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,
and also polished.
10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
it is polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree![m]
11 “‘He gave it to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand—
the sword is sharpened, it is polished—
giving it into the hand of the executioner.
12 Cry out and moan, son of man,
for it is wielded against my people;
against all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.
Therefore, strike your thigh.[n]
13 “‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more?[o] declares the Sovereign Lord.’
14 “And you, son of man, prophesy,
and clap your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice, even three times!
It is a sword for slaughter,
a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
15 So hearts melt with fear and many stumble.
At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter.
Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!
16 Cut sharply on the right!
Swing to[p] the left,
wherever your edge[q] is appointed to strike.
17 I too will clap my hands together,
I will exhaust my rage;
I the Lord have spoken.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 21:1 sn Ezek 21:1 in the English Bible is 21:6 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 20:45.
- Ezekiel 21:2 tn Heb “set your face toward.”
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn Heb “the land of Israel.”
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.
- Ezekiel 21:3 tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘hinnenî ’êlékâ’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.
- Ezekiel 21:3 sn This is the sword of judgment; see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.
- Ezekiel 21:3 sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25. The words do not require all the people in each category to be cut off.
- Ezekiel 21:4 tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).
- Ezekiel 21:4 tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.
- Ezekiel 21:6 tn Heb “breaking loins.”
- Ezekiel 21:7 tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”
- Ezekiel 21:7 sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.
- Ezekiel 21:10 tn Heb “Or shall we rejoice, scepter of my son? It despises every tree.” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned just before this. Alternatively, the line may be understood as “Let us not rejoice, O tribe of my son; it despises every tree.” The same word in Hebrew may be either “rod,” “scepter,” or “tribe.” The word sometimes translated as “or” or taken as an interrogative particle may be a negative particle. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:672, n. 79.sn The people of Judah should not place false hope in their king, symbolized by his royal scepter, for God’s judgment (symbolized by fire and then a sword) would destroy every tree (see 20:47), symbolizing the righteous and wicked (see 21:3-4).
- Ezekiel 21:12 sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cf. Jer 31:19.
- Ezekiel 21:13 tn Heb “For testing (will come), and what if also a scepter it despises will not be?” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned in the previous verses. The text is very difficult, and any rendering is uncertain.
- Ezekiel 21:16 tn Heb “Put to.”
- Ezekiel 21:16 tn Heb “face.”
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