Ezekiel 5:12-17

12 'One third of you will die by 1plague or be consumed by famine among you, one third will fall by the sword around you, and one third I will 2scatter to every wind, and I will 3unsheathe a sword behind them.
13 'Thus My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be 4appeased; then they will know that I, the LORD, have 5spoken in My zeal when I have spent My wrath upon them.
14 'Moreover, I will make you a desolation and a 6reproach among the nations which surround you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15 'So it will be a reproach, a reviling, a 7warning and an object of horror to the nations who surround you when I 8execute judgments against you in anger, wrath and raging rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken.
16 'When I send against them the deadly arrows of famine which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break the staff of bread.
17 'Moreover, 9I will send on you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you of children; 10plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the LORD, have spoken.' "

Ezekiel 5:12-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 5

This chapter is of the same argument with the former; and contains a type of Jerusalem's destruction; an explanation of that type; what were the reasons of God's judgments on that city; and the nature, rise, and end of them. The type is in Eze 5:1-4; the explanation of that type is in Eze 5:5; the reasons of the severe judgments threatened are changing the statutes of the Lord, and not walking in them, and defiling the sanctuary with their abominations, Eze 5:6-11; an account of the judgments of God, answerable to each of the parts in the type, Eze 5:12; the ends of these judgments are, with respect to God, the accomplishment of his anger, and the satisfaction of his justice; with respect to the Jews, bringing them to an acknowledgment that he had spoken in his zeal; and, with respect to the nations, their instruction and astonishment, Eze 5:13-15; and the chapter is concluded with an assurance that these judgments would be sent, Eze 5:16,17.

Cross References 10

  • 1. Jeremiah 15:2; Jeremiah 21:9; Ezekiel 5:17; Ezekiel 6:11, 12
  • 2. Ezekiel 5:2, 10; Amos 9:9; Zechariah 2:6
  • 3. Jeremiah 43:10, 11; Jeremiah 44:27; Ezekiel 5:2; Ezekiel 12:14
  • 4. Isaiah 1:24
  • 5. Isaiah 59:17; Ezekiel 36:5, 6; Ezekiel 38:19
  • 6. Psalms 74:3-10; Psalms 79:1-4; Ezekiel 22:4
  • 7. Isaiah 26:9; Jeremiah 22:8, 9; 1 Corinthians 10:11
  • 8. Isaiah 66:15, 16; Ezekiel 5:8; Ezekiel 25:17
  • 9. Leviticus 26:22; Revelation 6:8
  • 10. Ezekiel 38:22

Footnotes 5

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