Ezekiel 21:16

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Slash to the right;turn to the left—wherever your blade is directed.

Hebrew Names Version
Gather you together, go to the right, set yourself in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.

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

English Standard Version
Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.

New American Standard Bible
"Prove yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is ordered.

New Century Version
Sword, cut on the right side; then cut on the left side. Cut anywhere your blade is turned.

Amplified Bible
"Turn O sword and cut right or cut left, whichever way your thirst for blood and your edge direct you.

World English Bible
Gather you together, go to the right, set yourself in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Get thee alone: goe to the right hande, or get thy selfe to the left hande, whithersoeuer thy face turneth.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.

Legacy Standard Bible
Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.

Berean Standard Bible
Slash to the right; set your blade to the left-wherever your blade is directed.

Contemporary English Version
It will slash right and left, wherever the blade is pointed.

Complete Jewish Bible
The sword was given to be polished, so that it could be wielded; it was sharpened and polished to be placed in the slaughterer's hand.'

Darby Translation
Gather up [strength], go to the right hand, turn thee, go to the left, whithersoever thy face is appointed.

Easy-to-Read Version
Sword, be sharp! Cut on the right side. Cut straight ahead. Cut on the left side. Go wherever your edge was chosen to go.

George Lamsa Translation
Take hold firmly my right hand, take hold firmly my left hand, wherever my face is turned;

Good News Translation
Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn.

Lexham English Bible
Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your edge is directed.

Literal Translation
Sharpen yourself on the right! Set yourself on the left, wherever your face is appointed.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Get the to some place alone, ether vpon the right honde or on the lefte, whither so euer thy face turneth.

American Standard Version
Gather thee together, go to the right, set thyself in array, go to the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

Bible in Basic English
Be pointed to the right, to the left, wherever your edge is ordered.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled; the sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

King James Version (1611)
Goe thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoeuer thy face is set.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Get thee one way or other, either vpon the right hande or vpon the left, whyther soeuer thy face turneth.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And do thou go on, sharpen thyself on the right and on the left whithersoever thy face may set itself.

English Revised Version
Gather thee together, go to the right; set thyself in array, go to the left; whithersoever thy face is set.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Be thou maad scharp, go thou to the riyt side, ether to the left side, whidur euer the desir of thi face is.

Update Bible Version
Gather yourself together, go to the right, set yourself in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.

Webster's Bible Translation
Go thee one way or other, [either] on the right hand, [or] on the left, whithersoever thy face [is] set.

New English Translation
Cut sharply on the right! Swing to the left, wherever your edge is appointed to strike.

New King James Version
"Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left-- Wherever your edge is ordered!

New Living Translation
O sword, slash to the right, then slash to the left, wherever you will, wherever you want.

New Life Bible
O sharp sword, cut to the left and to the right. Cut wherever you have been sent.

New Revised Standard
Attack to the right! Engage to the left! —wherever your edge is directed.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
One firm stroke to the right. Turn to the left,- Whithersoever thine edge is directed,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Be thou sharpened, go to the right hand, or to the left, which way soever thou hast a mind to set thy face.

Revised Standard Version
Cut sharply to right and left where your edge is directed.

Young's Literal Translation
Take possession of the right, place thyself at the left, Whither thy face is appointed.

Contextual Overview

⁸ God 's Message to me: "Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, ‘The Master says: "‘A sword! A sword! razor-sharp and polished, Sharpened to kill, polished to flash like lightning! "‘My child, you've despised the scepter of Judah by worshiping every tree-idol. ¹¹ "‘The sword is made to glisten, to be held and brandished. It's sharpened and polished, ready to be brandished by the killer.' ¹² "Yell out and wail, son of man. The sword is against my people! The princes of Israel and my people—abandoned to the sword! Wring your hands! Tear out your hair! ¹³ "‘Testing comes. Why have you despised discipline? You can't get around it. Decree of God , the Master.' ¹⁴"So, prophesy, son of man! Clap your hands. Get their attention. Tell them that the sword's coming down once, twice, three times. It's a sword to kill, a sword for a massacre, A sword relentless, a sword inescapable— People collapsing right and left, going down like dominoes. I've stationed a murderous sword at every gate in the city, Flashing like lightning, brandished murderously. Cut to the right, thrust to the left, murderous, sharp-edged sword! Then I'll clap my hands, a signal that my anger is spent. I, God , have spoken."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Go: Ezekiel 21:4, Ezekiel 21:20, Ezekiel 14:17, Ezekiel 16:46

either: Genesis 13:9

or on the left: Heb. set thyself, take the left hand

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 49:21 - earth

Cross-References

Genesis 27:38
"But don't you have just one blessing for me, Father? Oh, bless me my father! Bless me!" Esau sobbed inconsolably.

Judges 2:4
When God 's angel had spoken these words to all the People of Israel, they cried out—oh! how they wept! They named the place Bokim (Weepers). And there they sacrificed to God .

1 Samuel 24:16
When David had finished saying all this, Saul said, "Can this be the voice of my son David?" and he wept in loud sobs. "You're the one in the right, not me," he continued. "You've heaped good on me; I've dumped evil on you. And now you've done it again—treated me generously. God put me in your hands and you didn't kill me. Why? When a man meets his enemy, does he send him down the road with a blessing? May God give you a bonus of blessings for what you've done for me today! I know now beyond doubt that you will rule as king. The kingdom of Israel is already in your grasp! Now promise me under God that you will not kill off my family or wipe my name off the books."

1 Samuel 30:4
David and his men burst out in loud wails—wept and wept until they were exhausted with weeping. David's two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail widow of Nabal of Carmel, had been taken prisoner along with the rest. And suddenly David was in even worse trouble. There was talk among the men, bitter over the loss of their families, of stoning him. David strengthened himself with trust in his God . He ordered Abiathar the priest, son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the Ephod so I can consult God." Abiathar brought it to David. Then David prayed to God , "Shall I go after these raiders? Can I catch them?" The answer came, "Go after them! Yes, you'll catch them! Yes, you'll make the rescue!" David went, he and the six hundred men with him. They arrived at the Brook Besor, where some of them dropped out. David and four hundred men kept up the pursuit, but two hundred of them were too fatigued to cross the Brook Besor, and stayed there. Some who went on came across an Egyptian in a field and took him to David. They gave him bread and he ate. And he drank some water. They gave him a piece of fig cake and a couple of raisin muffins. Life began to revive in him. He hadn't eaten or drunk a thing for three days and nights! David said to him, "Who do you belong to? Where are you from?" "I'm an Egyptian slave of an Amalekite," he said. "My master walked off and left me when I got sick—that was three days ago. We had raided the Negev of the Kerethites, of Judah, and of Caleb. Ziklag we burned." David asked him, "Can you take us to the raiders?" "Promise me by God," he said, "that you won't kill me or turn me over to my old master, and I'll take you straight to the raiders." He led David to them. They were scattered all over the place, eating and drinking, gorging themselves on all the loot they had plundered from Philistia and Judah. David pounced. He fought them from before sunrise until evening of the next day. None got away except for four hundred of the younger men who escaped by riding off on camels. David rescued everything the Amalekites had taken. And he rescued his two wives! Nothing and no one was missing—young or old, son or daughter, plunder or whatever. David recovered the whole lot. He herded the sheep and cattle before them, and they all shouted, "David's plunder!" Then David came to the two hundred who had been too tired to continue with him and had dropped out at the Brook Besor. They came out to welcome David and his band. As he came near he called out, "Success!" But all the mean-spirited men who had marched with David, the rabble element, objected: "They didn't help in the rescue, they don't get any of the plunder we recovered. Each man can have his wife and children, but that's it. Take them and go!" "Families don't do this sort of thing! Oh no, my brothers!" said David as he broke up the argument. "You can't act this way with what God gave us! God kept us safe. He handed over the raiders who attacked us. Who would ever listen to this kind of talk? The share of the one who stays with the gear is the share of the one who fights—equal shares. Share and share alike!" From that day on, David made that the rule in Israel—and it still is. On returning to Ziklag, David sent portions of the plunder to the elders of Judah, his neighbors, with a note saying, "A gift from the plunder of God 's enemies!" He sent them to the elders in Bethel, Ramoth Negev, Jattir, Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, Racal, Jerahmeelite cities, Kenite cities, Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach, and Hebron, along with a number of other places David and his men went to from time to time.

1 Kings 3:26
The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, "Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don't kill him!" But the other one said, "If I can't have him, you can't have him—cut away!"

Isaiah 49:15
"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you—never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands. The walls you're rebuilding are never out of my sight. Your builders are faster than your wreckers. The demolition crews are gone for good. Look up, look around, look well! See them all gathering, coming to you? As sure as I am the living God"— God 's Decree— "you're going to put them on like so much jewelry, you're going to use them to dress up like a bride.

Zechariah 12:10
"Next I'll deal with the family of David and those who live in Jerusalem. I'll pour a spirit of grace and prayer over them. They'll then be able to recognize me as the One they so grievously wounded—that piercing spear-thrust! And they'll weep—oh, how they'll weep! Deep mourning as of a parent grieving the loss of the firstborn child. The lamentation in Jerusalem that day will be massive, as famous as the lamentation over Hadad-Rimmon on the fields of Megiddo: Everyone will weep and grieve, the land and everyone in it: The family of David off by itself and their women off by themselves; The family of Nathan off by itself and their women off by themselves; The family of Levi off by itself and their women off by themselves; The family of Shimei off by itself and their women off by themselves; And all the rest of the families off by themselves and their women off by themselves."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Go thee one way or another,.... Go to some one place: or "unite thyself" a; to other swords, or join other soldiers holding swords; the address is to the sword, to steer its course some one way, and slay as it goes along, sparing none:

either on the right, or on the left; or south, or north; so the Targum,

"unsheathe, and slay on the south, and destroy on the north:''

whithersoever thy face is set; or prepared, as the Targum, or appointed for destruction; this is the usual interpretation: but why may not the words be an apostrophe to the prophet, to go alone or single, either to the right or left, south or north, as his face was set, Ezekiel 21:2, sighing and crying, smiting his hands together, in order to affect the minds of the people with the sense of their calamities coming upon them?

a התאחדי "unito Montanus", Piscator, Polanus; "unitor te", Starckius; "in unum dirigitor", Cocceius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The second word of judgment: the glittering and destroying sword. The passage may be called the “Lay of the Sword;” it is written in the form of Hebrew poetry, with its characteristic parallelism.

Ezekiel 21:10

It contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree - The rod is the scepter of dominion, assigned to Judah Genesis 49:10. The destroying sword of Babylon despises the scepter of Judah; it despises every tree. Others render the verse, “Shall we make mirth” (saying), “the rod of my son,” (the rod which corrects my people) “contemneth” (treats with scorn, utterly confounds) “every tree” (every other nation); or, the scepter of my people “contemneth” (proudly despises) every other nation. Proud as the people are, they shall be brought to sorrow.

Ezekiel 21:12

Terrors - Better as in the margin.

Smite upon thy thigh - A token of mourning (compare the marginal reference note).

Ezekiel 21:13

Or,

For it is put to the proof, and if it contemneth even the rod, What shall not be? saith the Lord

i. e., What horrors will not arise when the sword shall cut down without regard the ruling scepter of Judah!

Ezekiel 21:14

Doubled the third time - i. e., “thrice doubled” to express its violence and force.

The sword of the slain - The sword whereby men are to be slain.

Of the great men ... - Or, The sword of the mighty slain, which presseth hard upon them.

Ezekiel 21:15

The point of the sword - The threatening sword or terror; as in Genesis 3:24, “the flaming sword.”

And their ruins be multiplied - literally, “to the multiplication of stumblingblocks,” that is, so that the causes of their fall may be more numerous. Compare Jeremiah 46:16.

Made bright ... - Or,

Ah! It is prepared for a lightning-flash, Drawn for slaughter.

Ezekiel 21:16

The prophet addresses the sword,

Gather thyself up, O sword, to the right or to the left.

Another rendering is: “Turn thee backwards! get thee to the right! Set thee forwards (?)!get thee to the left! O whither is thy face appointed?

Ezekiel 21:17

The Lord smites together His hands in anger (marginal reference), man in consternation.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 21:16. Go thee one way or other — Thou shalt prosper, O sword, whithersoever thou turnest; against Ammon, or Judea, or Egypt.