Ezekiel 21

← Previous ChapterEzekiel 21Next Chapter →

Reading Ezekiel · Follow the vision and its setting

Start anywhere in Ezekiel. Bring these reading tools with you.

Separate a date from a vision’s location

Ezekiel supplies dated headings within an exilic setting. Record the named ruler, year, and place; then ask whether a journey occurs in a vision or as a narrated physical movement. These are different kinds of evidence.

Notice the prophetic action

A gesture, object, or enacted sign can communicate a message. Look for the text’s own explanation before supplying an allegorical meaning for every detail.

Try it in Ezekiel 10–11

Track the movement of the divine presence in the vision. Mark the temple, city, and eastern mountain, and then the return to the exiles. Distinguish the visionary route from the prophet’s physical location.

Read disturbing imagery in context

Identify who speaks and the rhetorical purpose of violent or degrading imagery. Explaining ancient rhetoric does not endorse its language or apply its judgments to contemporary religious or cultural groups.

Explore the scholarship: Yale · historical and literary discussion ↗

Return to the Chapter Compass ↑

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

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

3 And 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.

4 Seeing 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:

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

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

7 And 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.

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

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

10 It 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.

11 And 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.

12 Cry 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.

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

14 Thou 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.

15 I 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.

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

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

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.

28 And 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:

29 Whiles 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.

30 Shall 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.

31 And 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.

32 Thou 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.

World Behind This Chapter

Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Ezekiel 21.

QUESTIONS WORTH EXPLORING

What historical setting lies behind Ezekiel 21?

Babylonian invasion is pictured at the decision point between destinations.

How does Ezekiel 21’s sword poem + sign-act shape the chapter?

Repetition of sword language and the king’s divination create urgent movement.

What exactly is 'looking at the liver' in Ezekiel 21:21?

Mesopotamian extispicy interpreted features of a sacrificed animal’s liver as omens. Ancient liver-omen tablets and models make the practice materially visible.

Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
History & Daily Life1
Language & Literature1
  • Ezekiel 21 Hebrew Text and Sword PoetrySTEP Bible, Tyndale House

    Interactive Hebrew passage tool for examining repeated sword vocabulary, sharpening and polishing, clapping, groaning, road signs, divination, siege ramps, oaths, crowns, turbans, overturning, and judgment against Ammon. It helps readers follow the chapter’s rapid sequence of poems and sign-acts.

Artifacts & Manuscripts1
  • Clay Liver Model Used for DivinationBritish Museum

    Visible clay model of a sheep’s liver marked for interpreting omens. It directly illuminates the hepatoscopy described in Ezekiel 21, where the Babylonian king examines a liver while deciding whether to march against Jerusalem or Rabbah.

Comments

Public Discussion

Public discussion

Your display name and comment can be seen by anyone visiting this chapter. Do not include private or sensitive information. Read the Community Guidelines.

Did we lose you somewhere?

Tell us what’s confusing, what’s broken, or what you’re enjoying.

Feedback is private and sent to The Bible Directory team. We include this page’s address to help investigate. Please don’t include passwords, payment details, or private study notes.

Privacy policy