Yehezkiel 21:3

21:3 and say to them, ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, ²  I am against you. ³  I will draw my sword ⁴  from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 21:12

21:12 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. ⁶ 

Yehezkiel 21:19

21:19 “You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

Yehezkiel 21:21-22

21:21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork ⁷  in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: ⁸  He shakes arrows, he consults idols, ⁹  he examines ¹⁰  animal livers. ¹¹  21:22 Into his right hand ¹²  comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal ¹³  for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, ¹⁴  to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

Yehezkiel 21:24

21:24 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up ¹⁵  your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force. ¹⁶ 

Yehezkiel 21:28-29

21:28 “As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; ¹⁷  say:

“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,

polished to consume, ¹⁸  to flash like lightning –

21:29 while seeing false visions for you

and reading lying omens for you ¹⁹  –

to place that sword ²⁰  on the necks of the profane wicked, ²¹ 

whose day has come,

the time of final punishment.

[21:3]  ¹ tn Heb “the land of Israel.”

[21:3]  ² tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.

[21:3]  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 ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.

[21:3]  ⁴ sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.

[21:3]  ⁵ 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.

[21:12]  ⁶ sn This physical action was part of an expression of grief. Cp. Jer. 31:19.

[21:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “mother.”

[21:21]  ⁸ sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.

[21:21]  ⁹ tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).

[21:21]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sees.”

[21:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the liver.”

[21:22]  ¹² tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.

[21:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.

[21:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”

[21:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “caused to be remembered.”

[21:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt when your transgressions are uncovered so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds – because you are remembered, by the hand you will be seized.”

[21:28]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their reproach.”

[21:28]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to contain, endure.” Since the Hebrew text as it stands makes little, if any, sense, most emend the text to read either “to consume” or “for destruction.” For discussion of options see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:693.

[21:29]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in the seeing concerning you falsehood, in divining concerning you a lie.” This probably refers to the attempts of the Ammonites to ward off judgment through prophetic visions and divination.

[21:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “you”; the referent (the sword mentioned in v. 28) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:29]  ²¹ sn The second half of the verse appears to state that the sword of judgment would fall upon the wicked, despite their efforts to prevent it.