Ezekiel 21:19

New Living Translation

"Son of man, make a map and trace two routes on it for the sword of Babylon's king to follow. Put a signpost on the road that comes out of Babylon where the road forks into two—

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of Babylon’s king can take. Both of them should originate from the same land. And make a signpost at the fork in the road to each city.

Hebrew Names Version
Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Bavel may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
"As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.

New American Standard Bible
"Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

New Century Version
"Human, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can follow. Both of these roads will start from the same country. And make signs where the road divides and one way goes toward the city.

Amplified Bible
"As for you, son of man, mark out two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost; place it at the head of the way to the city.

World English Bible
Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Also thou sonne of man, appoint thee two wayes, that the sworde of the King of Babel may come: both twaine shall come out of one lande, and chuse a place, and chuse it in the corner of the way of the citie.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"As for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

Legacy Standard Bible
"Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.

Berean Standard Bible
"Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, son of man, mark two roads for the king of Babylonia to follow when he comes with his sword. The roads will begin at the same place, but be sure to put up a signpost where the two roads separate and go in different directions.

Complete Jewish Bible
"Therefore, human being, prophesy and clap your hands together. Then the sword will strike twice, three times, the sword for victims, the sword for a great slaughter, coming from every direction.

Darby Translation
And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come—out of one land shall they both come—and make thee a signpost, make it at the head of the way to the city.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Son of man, draw two roads that the sword of the king of Babylon can use to come to Israel. Both roads will come from the same country. Then draw a sign at the head of the road to the city.

George Lamsa Translation
Also, Son of man, prepare for yourself two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; both of them shall come forth out of the same land; and set a sign at the head of the highway to the choicest city.

Good News Translation
"Mortal man," he said, "mark out two roads by which the king of Babylonia can come with his sword. Both of them are to start in the same country. Put up a signpost where the roads fork.

Lexham English Bible
"And you, son of man, mark out for yourself two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must both go out from the same land. And hew out a signpost; hew it at the head of the road of the city.

Literal Translation
And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. Both of them shall come out from one land. And create a hand at the head of the way to the city, create it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thou sonne of man, make the two stretes, that the swearde of ye kinge of Babilo maye come. Both these stretes shall go out of one londe. He shal set him vp a place, at the heade of the strete shal he chose him out a corner.

American Standard Version
Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

Bible in Basic English
And you, son of man, have two ways marked out, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; let the two of them come out of one land: and let there be a pillar at the top of the road:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of those to be slain; it is the sword of the great one that is to be slain, which compasseth them about.

King James Version (1611)
Also thou sonne of man, appoint thee two wayes, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twaine shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the citie.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou sonne of man, appoynt thee two wayes, that the sworde of the king of Babylon may come: Both these wayes shal go out of one lande, and choose thee a place, at the head of the citie wayes choose it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and there shall be a force at the top of the way of the city, thou shalt set it at the top of the way,

English Revised Version
Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he seide, And thou, sone of man, sette to thee twei weies, that the swerd of the king of Babiloyne come; bothe schulen go out of o lond, and bi the hond he schal take coniecting; he schal coniecte in the heed of the weie of the citee,

Update Bible Version
Also, you son of man, appoint for yourself two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they shall both come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

Webster's Bible Translation
Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both [ways] shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose [it] at the head of the way to the city.

New English Translation
"You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon's sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.

New King James Version
"And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city.

New Life Bible
"Son of man, make two ways for the king of Babylon to come with his sword. Both of them will come from the same land. Mark the way where the road divides and goes to the city.

New Revised Standard
Mortal, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall issue from the same land. And make a signpost, make it for a fork in the road leading to a city;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Thou, therefore son of man. Appoint thee two ways For the sword of the king of Babylon to enter, Out of one land shall those two ways come, - And a hand, engrave thou, At the head of the way to the city, engrave it.;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And thou son of man, set thee two ways, for the sword of the king of Babylon to come: both shall come forth out of one land: and with his hand he shall draw lots, he shall consult at the head of the way of the city.

Revised Standard Version
"Son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them shall come forth from the same land. And make a signpost, make it at the head of the way to a city;

Young's Literal Translation
`And thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare [it].

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Then this message came to me from the Lord : ¹⁹ "Son of man, make a map and trace two routes on it for the sword of Babylon's king to follow. Put a signpost on the road that comes out of Babylon where the road forks into two— ²⁰ one road going to Ammon and its capital, Rabbah, and the other to Judah and fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ The king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices. ²² The omen in his right hand says, ‘Jerusalem!' With battering rams his soldiers will go against the gates, shouting for the kill. They will put up siege towers and build ramps against the walls. ²³ The people of Jerusalem will think it is a false omen, because of their treaty with the Babylonians. But the king of Babylon will remind the people of their rebellion. Then he will attack and capture them. ²⁴ "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Again and again you remind me of your sin and your guilt. You don't even try to hide it! In everything you do, your sins are obvious for all to see. So now the time of your punishment has come! ²⁵ "O you corrupt and wicked prince of Israel, your final day of reckoning is here! ²⁶ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: "Take off your jeweled crown, for the old order changes. Now the lowly will be exalted, and the mighty will be brought down. ²⁷ Destruction! Destruction! I will surely destroy the kingdom. And it will not be restored until the one appears who has the right to judge it. Then I will hand it over to him.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ezekiel 4:1-3, Ezekiel 5:1-17, Jeremiah 1:10

Reciprocal: Isaiah 28:19 - the time Jeremiah 4:7 - destroyer Ezekiel 21:3 - will draw Ezekiel 21:11 - to give Ezekiel 23:23 - Babylonians

Cross-References

Genesis 21:5
Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born.

Genesis 21:6
And Sarah declared, "God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me.

Genesis 21:16
Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away. "I don't want to watch the boy die," she said, as she burst into tears.

Genesis 21:17
But God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, "Hagar, what's wrong? Do not be afraid! God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.

Genesis 21:20
And God was with the boy as he grew up in the wilderness. He became a skillful archer,

Genesis 21:31
Then he named the place Beersheba (which means "well of the oath"), because that was where they had sworn the oath.

Numbers 22:31
Then the Lord opened Balaam's eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Also thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come,.... Describe or draw out upon a table or tile, as in Ezekiel 4:1, or on the ground, two roads, such as are described in maps; which it may be supposed the king of Babylon would take, either the one or the other, in order to make war against some king or another:

both twain shall come forth out of one land; both ways must be drawn as coming from one country, even Babylon;

and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city; fix upon some spacious place, where Nebuchadnezzar may be supposed to bring his army, as a proper rendezvous for them to muster them in; and let be where two ways meet, that lead to cities, one to one city, and another to another: and it seems that upon the desert of Arabia, through which the king of Babylon came, there was such a place, where two ways met, and one led to Jerusalem, and the other to Rabbath; and this is the place the prophet was to describe, and where in fact Nebuchadnezzar came.

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 21:19. Appoint thee two ways — Set off from Babylon, and lay down two ways, either of which thou mayest take; that to the right, which leads to Jerusalem; or that to the left, which leads to Rabbath of the Ammonites, Ezekiel 21:20. But why against the Ammonites? Because both they and the Moabites were united with Zedekiah against the Chaldeans, (see Jeremiah 27:3,) though they afterwards fought against Judea, Ezekiel 12:6.