Ezekiel 12:20

Ezekiel 12:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Context of Ezekiel 12:20

18“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. 19Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it. The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 21Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’?

Ezekiel 12:20 word by word

וְהֶעָרִ֤ים הַנּֽוֹשָׁבוֹת֙ תֶּחֱרַ֔בְנָה וְהָאָ֖רֶץ שְׁמָמָ֣ה תִֽהְיֶ֑ה וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם כִּֽי־אֲנִ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ פRead the interlinear

• The inhabitedיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
• citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
• will be laid wasteחָרֵבchârab chârêb · to destroyH2717
• and the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• will becomeהָיָהhâyâh · to beH1961
• desolateשְׁמָמָהshemâmâh shimâmâh · devastationH8077
• Then you will knowיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• thatכִּיkîy · forH3588
• Iאֲנִי'ănîy · IH589
• am the LORDיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Ezekiel 12:20

• Ezekiel 15:6Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem.
• Isaiah 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
• Isaiah 7:23And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
• Isaiah 24:3The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.
• Isaiah 64:10Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
• Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
• Jeremiah 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
• Jeremiah 16:9For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.
• Jeremiah 19:11and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
• Jeremiah 24:8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.
• Jeremiah 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
• Jeremiah 34:22Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
• Lamentations 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
• Daniel 9:17So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 12:20

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-20Verses 17-20 The prophet must eat and drink in care and fear, with trembling, that he might express the condition of those in Jerusalem during the siege. When ministers speak of the ruin coming upon sinners, they must speak as those that know the terrors of the Lord. Afflictions are happy ones, however grievous to flesh and blood, that improve us in the knowledge of God.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17-20Ezekiel trembled and shook while he ate and drank. This was a sign act, a symbolic action that showed God’s message. His shaking showed the fear and anxiety of the people living in Jerusalem and Judah. They would see that destruction was coming and that they could not escape it. Later, the exiles would hear that their homeland had been destroyed. Then they would understand something important. They were not rejected by God. Instead, they were the ones who…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. the cities--left in Judea after the destruction of Jerusalem.Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 12:20

• Instruction
• Symbols and Similitudes
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Carefulness
• Ezekiel
• Zedekiah (2)

Commentaries on Ezekiel 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings