Ezekiel 21:18

King James Version

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

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The word of the Lord came to me:

Hebrew Names Version
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

English Standard Version
The word of the Lord came to me again:

New American Standard Bible
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

New Century Version
The Lord spoke his word to me, saying:

Amplified Bible
The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

World English Bible
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

Geneva Bible (1587)
The worde of the Lorde came vnto mee againe, saying,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The word of the LORD came to me saying,

Legacy Standard Bible
And the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Contemporary English Version
The Lord said:

Complete Jewish Bible
For a test is coming, and what if he rejects the rod again then? He will cease to exist," says Adonai Elohim .

Darby Translation
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Easy-to-Read Version
The word of the Lord came to me. He said,

George Lamsa Translation
The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Good News Translation
The Lord spoke to me.

Lexham English Bible
And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Literal Translation
And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The worde of the LORDE came yet vnto me agayne, sayenge:

American Standard Version
The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying,

Bible in Basic English
And the word of the Lord came to me again, saying,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For there is a trial; and what if it contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

King James Version (1611)
The word of the Lord came vnto me againe, saying,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The worde of the Lorde came yet vnto me agayne, saying:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

English Revised Version
The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the word of the Lord was maad to me,

Update Bible Version
The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

Webster's Bible Translation
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

New English Translation
The word of the Lord came to me:

New King James Version
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying:

New Living Translation
Then this message came to me from the Lord :

New Life Bible
The Word of the Lord came to me saying,

New Revised Standard
The word of the Lord came to me:

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Revised Standard Version
The word of the LORD came to me again:

Young's Literal Translation
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

THE MESSAGE
God 's Message came to me: "Son of man, lay out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Start them from the same place. Place a signpost at the beginning of each road. Post one sign to mark the road of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites. Post the other to mark the road to Judah and Fort Jerusalem. The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and he decides by divination which of the two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws god-dice, he examines a goat liver. He opens his right hand: The omen says, ‘Head for Jerusalem!' So he's on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, ¹⁹ Also, 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. ²⁰ Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. ²¹ For 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. ²² At 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. ²³ And 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. ²⁴ Therefore 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. ²⁵ And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, ²⁶ Thus 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. ²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 16:10
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.

Genesis 17:20
And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

Genesis 21:12
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Genesis 21:13
And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

Genesis 21:18
Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

Genesis 21:29
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?

Genesis 21:31
Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The word of the Lord came unto me again,.... Immediately after the former; for this respects the same prophecy about the sword, and the way of its coming, and the cause of it:

saying; as follows:

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The third word of judgment. The king of Babylon’s march upon Judaea and upon the Ammonites. Destruction is to go forth not on Judah only, but also on such neighboring tribes as the Ammonites (compare Jeremiah 27:2-3).

Ezekiel 21:19

Appoint thee - Set before thee.

Choose thou a place, choose it - Rather, “mark a spot, mark it,” as upon a map, at the head of the two roads, one leading to Jerusalem, the other to Ammon. These were the two roads by one or other of which an invading army must march from Babylon to Egypt.

Ezekiel 21:21

The Chaldaean king is depicted standing at the entrance of the holy land from the north, meditating his campaign, using rites of divination that really belonged to the Akkadians, a primitive race which originally occupied the plains of Mesopotamia. The Accadians and the Etruscans belong through the Finnish family to the Turanian stock; this passage therefore shows a characteristic mode of divination in use among two widely separated nations; and as the Romans acquired their divination from the conquered Etruscans, so the Chaldaeans acquired the same art from the races whose soil they had occupied as conquerors.

He made his arrows briqht - Rather, he shook his arrow; a mode of divination much in practice with the Arabians. It was usual to place in some vessel three arrows, on one of which was written, “My God orders me;” on the other, “My God forbids me;” on the third was no inscription. These three arrows were shaken together until one came out; if it was the first, the thing was to be done; if the second, it was to be avoided; if the third, the arrows were again shaken together, until one of the arrows bearing a decided answer should come forth.

Images - Teraphim (Genesis 31:19 note).

He looked in the liver - It was the practice both of the Greeks and the Romans (derived from the Etruscans) to take omens from the inspection of the entrails (especially the liver) of animals offered in sacrifice.

Ezekiel 21:22

The divination for Jerusalem - The lot fixing the campaign against Jerusalem.

Ezekiel 21:23

It shalt be unto them - The Jews in their vain confidence shall look upon the hopes gathered from the divinations by the Babylonians as false and groundless.

To them that have sworn oaths - According to some, “oaths of oaths are theirs;” i. e., they have the most solemn oaths sworn by God to His people, in these they trust, forgetful of the sin which broke the condition upon which these promises were given. More probably the allusion is to the oaths which the Jews had sworn to Nebuchadnezzar as vassals Ezekiel 17:18-19; therefore they trust he will not attack them, forgetting how imperfectly they had kept their oaths, and that Nebuchadnezzar knew this.

But he will call to remembrance the iniquity - The king of Babylon will by punishment remind them of their perjury 2 Kings 25:6-7; 2 Chronicles 36:17.

Ezekiel 21:25

Profane - Rather, “wounded,” - not dead but - having a death-wound. The prophet, turning from the general crowd, addresses Zedekiah.

When iniquity shall have an end - i. e., at the time when iniquity shall be closed with punishment. So in Ezekiel 21:29.

Ezekiel 21:26

The diadem (“the mitre,” the unique head-dress of the high priest) shall be removed, and the crown taken off (this shall not be as it is), the low exalted, and the high abased. Glory shall be removed alike from priest and king; the present glory and power attached to the government of God’s people shall be quite removed.

Ezekiel 21:27

It shall be no more - Or, “This also shall not be;” the present state of things shall not continue: all shall be confusion “until He come” to whom the dominion belongs of right. Not Zedekiah but Jeconiah and his descendants were the rightful heirs of David’s throne. Through the restoration of the true line was there hope for Judah (compare Genesis 49:10), the promised King in whom all power shall rest - the Son of David - Messiah the Prince. Thus the prophecy of destruction ends for Judah in the promise of restoration (as in Ezekiel 20:40 ff).

Ezekiel 21:28

The burden of the Song of the Sword, also in the form of poetry, is again taken up, directed now against the Ammonites, who, exulting in Judah’s destruction, fondly deemed that they were themselves to escape. For Judah there is yet hope, for Ammon irremediable ruin.

Their reproach - The scorn with which they reproach Judah (marginal references).

The sword ... the glittering - Or, “the sword is drawn for the slaughter; it is furbished that it may detour, in order that it may glitter.” In the Septuagint (and Vulgate) the sword is addressed; e. g., Septuagint, “Arise that thou mayest shine.”

Ezekiel 21:29

Whiles ... unto thee - A parenthesis. The Ammonites had their false diviners who deluded with vain hopes.

To bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain - To cast thee (Ammon) upon the heap of slaughtered men.

Shall have an end - Shall have its final doom.

Ezekiel 21:30

Shall I cause it to return ... - Or, Back to its sheath! The work of the sword is over.