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Ezekiel 21

KJV · Chapter 21/48

1And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

3And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

4Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

5That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

6Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

7And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

8Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

10It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

11And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

12Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

13Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.

14Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

15I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

16Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

17I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.

18The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

19Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

20Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

21For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

22At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

23And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

24Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

26Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

28And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

29Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

30Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

31And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

32Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.

📖 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. Ezekiel 21:1Opening formula for a chapter full of sword imagery, picking up the theme of the Babylonian invasion with even more intensity.
  2. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 21:6Ezekiel receives another instruction for physical enactment: to groan visibly before the people, as if suffering intense physical pain.
  7. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 21:8Transition formula: introduces a longer, more detailed poem about the sword, taking up the image again in a more elaborate way.
  9. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 21:12Ezekiel is ordered to cry out and mourn openly — striking one’s own thigh was a common physical expression of extreme anguish.
  13. Ezekiel 21:13The text suggests that not even authority or a sceptre will stop this sword — the judgment will not spare symbols of power.
  14. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 21:18Transition formula: introduces the final part of the chapter, with a very concrete scene about the advance of the Babylonian army.
  19. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 21:28The target shifts again, now to the Ammonites — the same sharpened-sword language is reapplied to another neighboring people.
  29. Ezekiel 21:29The Ammonites had their own optimistic divinations, but the text warns that a reckoning is coming for them too.
  30. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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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