Ezekiel 21:1-17
Lexham English Bible
A Vision of the Avenging Sword of Yahweh
21 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “Son of man,[c] set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. 3 And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because[d] I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to[e] all creatures[f] from south to north. 5 And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!”’ 6 And you, son of man,[g] groan with shaking hips,[h] and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And then[i] when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!” declares[j] the Lord Yahweh.
8 And the word of Yahweh came[k] to me, saying,[l] 9 “Son of man,[m] prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. 10 It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, polished to flash like lightning![n] Or will we rejoice?[o] A rod, my son, is despising every tree.[p] 11 And he gives it to be polished, to be seized by the hand.[q] It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer. 12 Cry and wail, son of man,[r] for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore strike your thigh.[s] 13 For examine![t] And what if also the rod will not be despising?’ declares[u] the Lord Yahweh. 14 And you, son of man,[v] prophesy and clap your hands.[w] And the sword will strike twice;[x] let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them, 15 so that a heart melts, and the fallen multiply[y] at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped[z] for slaughtering. 16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your edge[aa] is directed. 17 And also I myself[ab] will clap my hands,[ac] and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”
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- Ezekiel 21:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 21:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 21:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 21:4 Hebrew “Because that”
- Ezekiel 21:4 Or “against”
- Ezekiel 21:4 Hebrew “creature”
- Ezekiel 21:6 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 21:6 Literally “with destruction of loins”
- Ezekiel 21:7 Literally “and it will be”
- Ezekiel 21:7 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 21:8 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 21:8 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 21:9 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 21:10 Literally “so that there be for her lightning”
- Ezekiel 21:10 Or “be pleased”
- Ezekiel 21:10 Or “stick” of correction; Hebrew is uncertain in meaning here
- Ezekiel 21:11 Literally “to take hold of in the palm of the hand”
- Ezekiel 21:12 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 21:12 Literally “strike on the thigh”
- Ezekiel 21:13 Literally “it was tested”
- Ezekiel 21:13 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 21:14 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
- Ezekiel 21:14 Literally “strike hand to hand”
- Ezekiel 21:14 Literally “be doubled”
- Ezekiel 21:15 Literally “be made many”
- Ezekiel 21:15 Or “polished”
- Ezekiel 21:16 Literally “face”
- Ezekiel 21:17 Literally “I, I”
- Ezekiel 21:17 Literally “strike my hand to my hand”
Ezekiel 21:1-17
American Standard Version
21 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: 5 and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more. 6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes. 7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall [a]faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah.
8 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished; 10 it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? [b]the rod of my son, it contemneth every tree. 11 And it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12 Cry and wail, son of man; for it is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel: [c]they are delivered over to the sword with my people; smite therefore upon thy thigh. 13 For there is a trial; and [d]what if even the rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord Jehovah. 14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded, which [e]entereth into their chambers. 15 I have set the [f]threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter. 16 [g]Gather thee together, go to the right, set thyself in array, go to the left, [h]whithersoever thy face is set. 17 I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
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- Ezekiel 21:7 Or, be dim
- Ezekiel 21:10 Or, it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree
- Ezekiel 21:12 Or, terrors by reason of the sword are upon my people
- Ezekiel 21:13 Or, what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more etc.
- Ezekiel 21:14 Or, compasseth them about
- Ezekiel 21:15 Or, glittering
- Ezekiel 21:16 Hebrew Make thyself one.
- Ezekiel 21:16 Or, whither is thy face set?
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