Ezekiel 21:3

Translations

Modern

…and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

Traditional

And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

Literal

…and say to the land of Israel, thus says YHWH: ‘Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and I will cut off from you the righteous one and the wicked one!

Latin

Et dices terræ Israël: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ad te, et ejiciam gladium meum de vagina sua, et occidam in te justum et impium.

Original

Hebrew

English

…and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

Notes

Ezekiel 21:3–5

The Lord himself was the true enemy Israel needed to fear. He was about to bring a complete judgment against them.
Normally, people expect the righteous to escape judgment and the wicked to receive it. This contrast is like the green tree and the dry tree in the parable (Ezekiel 20:47–48).
God’s judgment on sin would be like a very hot fire. It would burn everything it touched.

Ezekiel 21:1–32

This chapter repeatedly mentions a sword (Ezekiel 21:3–5, 9, 11–12, 14–16, 19, 28–30). Each time, the sword represents God’s judgment.

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Jeremiah 21:13
Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau—declares the LORD—you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
Job 9:22
It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
Ezekiel 5:8
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
Ezekiel 14:21
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
Ezekiel 14:17
Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
Nahum 3:5
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
Ezekiel 21:19
“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.
Ezekiel 5:12
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
Ezekiel 21:9–11
“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—
Nahum 2:13
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will reduce your chariots to cinders, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
Leviticus 26:33
But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
Jeremiah 51:25
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Glossary

Ezekiel, Book of

Topics

Judgments: Design of The Sword: (Drawing of) of War and Destruction The Sword: Carried in a Sheath or Scabbard

Ezekiel 21:3

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