Ezekiel 33:27

27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and those who are in the open field I will give to the wild animals to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.

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 God: You eat flesh with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood; shall you then possess the land?
26 You depend on your swords, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land?
27 Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and those who are in the open field I will give to the wild animals to be devoured; and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.
28 I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and its proud might shall come to an end; and the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through.
29 Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.