Ezekiel 33:27

27 "Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.

Ezekiel 33:27 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:27

Say thou thus unto them, thus saith the Lord God
Send or write unto them in the name of the Lord, after this manner, as I live,
which is the form of an oath; the Lord swears by himself his life, because he could swear by no greater, and for the confirmation of what follows: surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword;
by their own sword, falling out one with another; or by the sword of Ishmael ( Jeremiah 41:2 Jeremiah 41:3 ) or by the sword of the Chaldeans, who revenged the death of Gedaliah and others; even such who dwelt amidst the ruins of the city of Jerusalem, and other places, that were become desolate through the ravages of the enemy: and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be
devoured;
of which it may be supposed there were the greater numbers, since the land was so depopulated: and they that be in the forts, and in the caves, shall die of the pestilence; such as were in fortified cities, or in caverns of the earth, dug in rocks and mountains, where, in neither of them, men and beasts could easily come at them; here the Lord would send his arrow, the plague, that flies by day, and reach them, and destroy them; none can escape his hands; these are three of the Lord's sore judgments, the sword, pestilence, and noisome beasts.

Ezekiel 33:27 In-Context

25 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "You eat blood [in your meat], and you raise your eyes to your idols and you pour out blood, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?

26 You rely on your sword, you do a detestable thing, and {each man defiles} the wife of his neighbor, and [yet] you want to take possession of the land?" '

27 "Thus you must say to them, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{As I live}, {surely} whoever [is] in the ruins, by the sword they will fall, and whoever [is] on the surface of the open field, I will give him to the animals to eat him, and whoever [is] in the stronghold and in the cave, they will die by the plague.

28 And I will make the land [a] desolation and [a] wasteland, and the pride of its strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate {with no one traveling through them}." '

29 And they will know that I [am] Yahweh when I make my land [a] desolation and [a] wasteland, because of all of their detestable things that they have done.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "I live"
• [b] Literally "if not"
• [c] Hebrew "animal"