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Ezequiel 21

BLIVRE · Chapter 21/48

1E veio a mim a palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, dirige teu rosto contra Jerusalém, pronuncia contra os santuários, e profetiza contra a terra de Israel;

3E dize à terra de Israel: Assim diz o SENHOR: Eis que eu [sou] contra ti, e tirarei minha espada de sua bainha, e exterminarei de ti o justo e o perverso.

4E dado que exterminarei de ti ao justo e o perverso, por isso minha espada sairá de sua bainha contra todos, desde o sul até o norte.

5E todos saberão que eu, o SENHOR, tirei minha espada de sua bainha; ela nunca mais voltará.

6Porém tu, filho do homem, suspira com quebrantamento de lombos, e com amargura; suspira diante dos olhos deles.

7E será que, quando te disserem: Por que tu suspiras? Então dirás: Por causa da notícia que vêm; e todo coração se dissolverá, todas as mãos se enfraquecerão, todo espírito se angustiará, e todos joelhos se desfarão em águas; eis que já vem, e ela se cumprirá, diz o Senhor DEUS

8E veio a mim a palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

9Filho do homem, profetiza, e dize: Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dize: A espada, a espada está afiada, e também polida;

10Para degolar matança está afiada, para reluzir como relâmpago está polida. Por acaso nos alegraremos? A vara de meu filho despreza toda árvore.

11E ele a deu para polir, para usar dela com a mão; esta espada está afiada, e esta polida está, para a entregar na mão do matador.

12Grita e uiva, ó filho do homem; porque esta será contra meu povo, será contra todos os príncipes de Israel. Entregues à de espada são os do meu povo; portanto bate na coxa.

13Pois tem que haver provação. E o que seria se a vara que despreza não mais existir?diz o Senhor DEUS.

14Por isso tu, filho do homem, profetiza, e bate uma mão com outra; por que a espada se dobrará até a terceira vez, a espada dos que forem mortos; esta é espada da grande matança que os cercará,

15Para que os corações desmaiem, e os tropeços se multipliquem; eu pus a ponta da espada contra todas as suas portas. Ah! Ela feita foi para reluzir, e preparada está para degolar.

16[Ó espada] , move-te; vira-te à direita, prepara-te, vira-te à esquerda, para onde quer que tua face te apontar.

17E também eu baterei minhas mãos uma com a outra, e farei descansar minha ira. Eu, o SENHOR, falei.

18E veio a mim a palavra de SENHOR, dizendo:

19E tu, filho do homem, propõe para ti dois caminhos por onde venha a espada do rei da Babilônia; ambos procederão de uma mesma terra; e põe um marco num lugar, põe um marco no começo do caminho da cidade.

20Propõe um caminho, por onde venha a espada contra Rabá dos filhos de Amom, e contra Judá, contra a fortificada Jerusalém.

21Porque o rei de Babilônia parará em uma encruzilhada, no começo de dois caminhos, para usar de adivinhação; ele sacudiu flechas, consultou ídolos, olhou o fígado.

22A adivinhação será para a direita, sobre Jerusalém, para ordenar capitães, para abrir a boca à matança, para levantar a voz em grito, para pôr aríetes contra as portas, para levantar cercos, e edificar fortificações.

23E isto será como uma adivinhação falsa aos olhos daqueles que com juramentos firmaram compromisso com eles; porém ele se lembrará da maldade, para que sejam presos.

24Portanto, assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Dado que fizestes relembrar vossas maldades, manifestando vossas rebeliões, e revelando vossos pecados em todas vossos atos; por teres feito relembrar, sereis presos com a mão.

25E tu, profano e perverso príncipe de Israel, cujo dia do tempo do fim da maldade virá,

26Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Tira o turbante, tira a coroa; esta não será a mesma; ao humilde exaltarei, e ao exaltado humilharei.

27Ruína! Ruína! Ruína a farei; e ela não será [restaurada] , até que venha aquele a quem lhe pertence por direito, e [a ele] a darei.

28E tu, filho do homem, profetiza, e dize: Assim diz o Senhor DEUS sobre os filhos de Amom, e sua humilhação; Dize pois: A espada, a espada está desembainhada, polida para a matança, para destruir, para reluzir como relâmpago,

29Enquanto te profetizam falsidade, enquanto te adivinham mentira; para te porem sobre os pescoços dos perversos condenados à morte, cujo dia virá no tempo do fim da maldade.

30Torna [tua espada] à sua bainha! No lugar onde foste criado, na terra de teu nascimento eu te julgarei.

31E derramarei sobre ti minha ira; assoprarei contra ti o fogo do meu furor, e te entregarei na mão de homens violentos, habilidosos em destruir.

32Para o fogo tu serás combustível; teu sangue estará no meio da terra; não haverá memória de ti; porque eu, o SENHOR, falei.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ezekiel prophesies about God's 'sharp sword' coming against Jerusalem, describes the king of Babylon deciding by divination to attack the city, and announces the end of the kingship until the one comes 'whose right it is.'

Explanation

The image of the sharp, glittering sword, repeated insistently, communicates the inevitable and imminent character of the judgment on Jerusalem. The description of the king of Babylon using divination with arrows and liver examination (v.21) is a real Mesopotamian divination practice (called hepatoscopy), showing that God uses even pagan decisions to fulfill His own purposes. The phrase about 'him whose right it is' (v.27) is understood by scholars as a messianic reference to the future restoration of the Davidic throne through Christ, even amid the total collapse of the monarchy.

Fun facts

  • The practice of examining the liver of sacrificed animals for divination (extispicy) is documented on real Babylonian clay tablets, some showing detailed diagrams of the liver used for interpretation.
  • The threefold repetition 'overturn, overturn, overturn' (v.27) is a Hebrew device of maximum emphasis, indicating a complete and definitive upheaval in the history of Judah's throne.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 21:1Opening formula for a chapter full of sword imagery, picking up the theme of the Babylonian invasion with even more intensity.
  2. Ezequiel 21:2This time the target explicitly includes the sacred places, not just the city — not even the temple will be left out of the announced judgment.
  3. Ezequiel 21:3The image of the sword coming out of its sheath marks the start of a sequence of judgment that, according to the text, will strike both righteous and wicked alike, within the context of a widespread invasion.
  4. Ezequiel 21:4The idea of striking everyone, without pinpoint distinction, reflects the reality of war: an invasion does not choose its victims by individual merit.
  5. Ezequiel 21:5The sword drawn from its sheath, in this context, does not go back in — the image conveys that the announced judgment really will be carried out, with no turning back.
  6. Ezequiel 21:6Ezekiel receives another instruction for physical enactment: to groan visibly before the people, as if suffering intense physical pain.
  7. Ezequiel 21:7When they ask the reason for the groaning, the answer is the news about to arrive — Ezekiel’s own body anticipates the dread that will take hold of everyone.
  8. Ezequiel 21:8Transition formula: introduces a longer, more detailed poem about the sword, taking up the image again in a more elaborate way.
  9. Ezequiel 21:9The “song of the sword,” repeating “a sword, a sword is sharpened” several times in a row, is war poetry: the hammering, rhythmic effect imitates the sharpening of a blade, building tension before the final order to attack.
  10. Ezequiel 21:10The ironic question about whether to “make mirth” contrasts with the seriousness of the sharpened sword — there is no reason to celebrate in the face of what is coming.
  11. Ezequiel 21:11The process of sharpening and preparing the sword is described in detail, almost like the staging of an execution scene about to happen.
  12. Ezequiel 21:12Ezekiel is ordered to cry out and mourn openly — striking one’s own thigh was a common physical expression of extreme anguish.
  13. Ezequiel 21:13The text suggests that not even authority or a sceptre will stop this sword — the judgment will not spare symbols of power.
  14. Ezequiel 21:14The sword is described as able to reach even the innermost, most protected rooms — no hiding place will be enough against the announced invasion.
  15. Ezequiel 21:15The image of the sword flashing against every gate of the city conveys a complete siege, with no free point of entry or exit.
  16. Ezequiel 21:16The command given to the sword personifies the weapon as if it chose the direction of the attack itself — a poetic device to intensify the sense of threat.
  17. Ezequiel 21:17God repeats the same physical gesture as Ezekiel, striking His hands together — as if personally satisfied to see His own wrath finally carried out.
  18. Ezequiel 21:18Transition formula: introduces the final part of the chapter, with a very concrete scene about the advance of the Babylonian army.
  19. Ezequiel 21:19Ezekiel is ordered to draw two possible paths for the Babylonian army — an enactment of a real strategic decision the king of Babylon was about to make.
  20. Ezequiel 21:20The two paths represent two possible targets: the capital of the Ammonites or Jerusalem — the army had to choose where to march first.
  21. Ezequiel 21:21The king of Babylon consulting arrows, household idols, and an animal’s liver at the crossroads describes real divination practices used in ancient Babylon — the text uses this real historical detail without endorsing the practice, simply describing how the decision to attack would be made.
  22. Ezequiel 21:22The king’s divination points to Jerusalem as the chosen target — the text describes, with technical detail, the preparations for a real siege.
  23. Ezequiel 21:23Even if the people of Jerusalem distrusted the enemy’s pagan divination, the text warns that the people’s own accumulated guilt is what will really seal the outcome.
  24. Ezequiel 21:24God explains that it is not foreign divination that decides Jerusalem’s fate, but the people’s own exposed wickedness, reaching a point where it can no longer be ignored.
  25. Ezequiel 21:25The focus shifts specifically to the prince of Jerusalem, identified as someone whose time as ruler is about to come to a definitive end.
  26. Ezequiel 21:26“Until he come whose right it is” speaks of Judah’s crown being removed until the arrival of a legitimate ruler — different traditions read this ruler in different ways, but in the immediate context the point is that the throne would sit empty after Zedekiah’s fall.
  27. Ezequiel 21:27The triple repetition of “overturn” marks the end of that line of kings — but the text leaves a door open for a future legitimate ruler, later associated with messianic hope.
  28. Ezequiel 21:28The target shifts again, now to the Ammonites — the same sharpened-sword language is reapplied to another neighboring people.
  29. Ezequiel 21:29The Ammonites had their own optimistic divinations, but the text warns that a reckoning is coming for them too.
  30. Ezequiel 21:30Unlike what happened with the sword against Israel, here God briefly considers returning the sword to its sheath — but the judgment against the Ammonites will still happen, in their own land.
  31. Ezequiel 21:31The description of the judgment against the Ammonites uses the same language of fury and fire already seen in earlier chapters against Jerusalem.
  32. Ezequiel 21:32The chapter ends announcing the complete erasure of the Ammonites’ memory — a fate as severe as the one announced against Jerusalem.

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