Ezekiel 21:18-32

The Instrument of God's Judgment

18 The word of the LORD came to me saying,

19 "As for you, son of man, ¹make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

20 "You shall mark a way for the sword to come to ²Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into ³fortified Jerusalem.

21 "For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ⁴divination; he ⁵shakes the arrows, he consults the ⁶household idols, he looks at the liver.

22 "Into his right hand came the divination, 'Jerusalem,' to ⁷set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall.

23 "And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; ⁸they have sworn solemn oaths. But he ⁹brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

24 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear -because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand.

25 'And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ¹⁰day has come, in the time of the punishment of the end,'

26 thus says the Lord GOD, 'Remove the turban and take off the ¹¹crown; this will no longer be the same. ¹²Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high.

27 '¹³A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until ¹⁴He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.'

28 "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their ¹⁵reproach,' and say: 'A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to ¹⁶consume, that it may be like lightning -

29 while they see for you ¹⁷false visions, while they divine lies for you-to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the ¹⁸time of the punishment of the end.

30 '¹⁹Return it to its sheath. In the ²⁰place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

31 'I will ²¹pour out My indignation on you; I will ²²blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, ²³skilled in destruction.

32 'You will be ²⁴fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will ²⁵not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.' "

Ezekiel 21:18-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 21

This chapter contains an explanation of a prophecy in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and a new one, concerning the sword of the Chaldeans, and the destruction of the Jews and Ammonites by it. The prophecy of the fire in the forest is explained, Eze 21:1-5, upon which the prophet is directed to show his concern at it by sighing, in order to awaken the attention of the people to it, Eze 21:6,7, then follows a prophecy of a very sharp and bright sword, which should do great execution upon the people and princes of Israel; and therefore the prophet, in order to affect them, with it, is bid to howl and cry, and smite on his thigh; and smite his hands together, and the Lord says he would do so; all which is designed to set forth the greatness of the calamity and the distress, Eze 21:8-17, next the prophet is ordered to represent the king of Babylon as at a place where two ways met, and as at a loss which way to take, and as determined by divination to go to Jerusalem first, Eze 21:18-24, and then Zedekiah, the then reigning prince of Israel, has his doom pronounced on him, and he is ordered to be stripped of his regalia; and an intimation is given that there should be no more king over Israel of the house of David until the Messiah came, Eze 21:26,27 and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Ammonites in their own land, which should certainly be, though their diviners might, say the contrary, Eze 21:28-31.

above excuse or complaint about speaking in parables; wherefore the prophet is ordered to speak in plainer language to the people. It is very probable that the prophet delivered the prophecy recorded in the latter part of the preceding chapter in the figurative terms in which he received it; and he here is bid to explain it to the people, or to repeat it to them in clearer expressions. 28904-950610-1207-Eze21.2

Cross References

• 1. Jeremiah 1:10; Ezekiel 4:1-3
• 2. Deuteronomy 3:11; Jeremiah 49:2; Ezekiel 25:5; Amos 1:14
• 3. Psalms 48:12, 13; Psalms 125:1, 2
• 4. Numbers 22:7; Numbers 23:23
• 5. Proverbs 16:33
• 6. Genesis 31:19, 30; Judges 17:5; Judges 18:17, 20
• 7. Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 26:9
• 8. Ezekiel 17:16, 18
• 9. Numbers 5:15; Ezekiel 21:24; Ezekiel 29:16
• 10. Psalms 37:13; Ezek 7:2, 3, 7
• 11. Jeremiah 13:18; Ezekiel 16:12
• 12. Psalms 75:7; Ezekiel 17:24
• 13. Haggai 2:21, 22
• 14. Psalms 2:6; Psalms 72:7, 10; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 37:24
• 15. Ezekiel 36:15; Zephaniah 2:8-10
• 16. Isaiah 31:8; Jeremiah 12:12; Jeremiah 46:10, 14
• 17. Jeremiah 27:9; Ezekiel 13:6-9; Ezekiel 22:28
• 18. Ezekiel 21:25; Ezekiel 35:5
• 19. Jeremiah 47:6, 7
• 20. Ezekiel 25:5
• 21. Ezekiel 14:19; Ezekiel 25:7; Nahum 1:6
• 22. Psalms 18:15; Isaiah 30:33; Ezekiel 22:20, 21; Haggai 1:9
• 23. Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 6:22, 23; Jeremiah 51:20-23; Habakkuk 1:6, 10
• 24. Ezekiel 20:47, 48; Malachi 4:1
• 25. Ezekiel 25:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "set for yourself"
• [b]. Lit "cut out a hand"
• [c]. Lit "cut it"
• [d]. Lit "set"
• [e]. Lit "mother"
• [f]. Heb "teraphim"
• [g]. Lit "in"
• [h]. Or "iniquity"
• [i]. Lit "not this"
• [j]. Lit "to finish"
• [k]. Or "iniquity"
• [l]. Or "artisans of"
• [m]. Lit "food"