Yehezkiel 21:4

21:4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone ¹  from the south ²  to the north.

Yehezkiel 21:13-14

21:13 “‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? ³  declares the sovereign Lord.’

21:14 “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.

Yehezkiel 21:23

21:23 But those in Jerusalem ⁴  will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, ⁵  but the king of Babylon ⁶  will accuse them of violations ⁷  in order to seize them. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 21:26

21:26 this is what the sovereign Lord says:

Tear off the turban, ⁹ 

take off the crown!

Things must change! ¹⁰ 

Exalt the lowly,

bring down the proud! ¹¹ 

Yehezkiel 21:31

21:31 I will pour out my anger on you;

the fire of my fury I will blow on you.

I will hand you over to brutal men,

who are skilled in destruction.

[21:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).

[21:4]  ² tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.

[21:13]  ³ 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.

[21:23]  ⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ⁵ sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).

[21:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:23]  ⁷ tn Or “iniquity.”

[21:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt for the purpose of being captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18).

[21:26]  ⁹ tn Elsewhere in the Bible the turban is worn by priests (Exod 28:4, 37, 39; 29:6; 39:28, 31; Lev 8:9; 16:4), but here a royal crown is in view.

[21:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “This not this.”

[21:26]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the high one.”