EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ezekiel 21:3
3Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people.
Ezekiel 21:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- English Standard Version (ESV)and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.
- New King James Version (NKJV)and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from you.
Context of Ezekiel 21:3
1The Lord gave this message to me: 2‘Son of man, look towards Jerusalem. Speak about the things in my holy place that are wrong. Speak my message to warn the people of Israel. Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people. 4I will remove righteous people and wicked people from among you. So I will use my sword to attack everyone in the land, from the north to the south. 5Then all the people will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who is punishing them with my sword. And I will not put it back in its place.”
Read all of Ezekiel 21Ezekiel 21:3 word by word
וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ לְאַדְמַ֣ת יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה הִנְנִ֣י אֵלַ֔יִךְ וְהוֹצֵאתִ֥י חַרְבִּ֖י מִתַּעְרָ֑הּ וְהִכְרַתִּ֥י מִמֵּ֖ךְ צַדִּ֥יק וְרָשָֽׁע׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- to the landאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- against thee, and will draw forthיָצָאyâtsâ' · to come out: sendH3318
- my swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- out of his sheathתַּ֫עַרta‛ar · razorH8593
- and will cut offכָּרַתkârath · to cut: eliminateH3772
- from thee the righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
- and the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
Cross-references for Ezekiel 21:3
- Ezekiel 5:8So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I myself have become your enemy, people of Jerusalem. I will punish you while the other nations watch.
- Ezekiel 26:3So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen! I have become your enemy, Tyre. I will bring many nations to attack you. They will be like the waves of the sea as they hit you.
- Jeremiah 21:13‘I have turned against you, Jerusalem's palace. Kings sit there on their thrones, on a high rock above the valley. You say, “We are safe here in our strong building. No enemy can get in here to attack us.”
- Jeremiah 50:31The Lord God Almighty says this: ‘You people of Babylon are very proud, so I will fight against you. Now the day has come when I will punish you for your sins.
- Jeremiah 51:25The Lord says, ‘Listen to me, Babylon! I am your enemy! You are like a strong mountain that destroys the whole earth. I will punish you with all my strength. I will push you down from your high place. I will make you a heap of ashes.
- Nahum 2:13The Lord Almighty says, ‘I am against you. I will burn your chariots and the sword will kill your young lions. I will take away all the animals that you attack. Nobody will hear the voices of your messengers.’
- Nahum 3:5This is why I am against you, says the Lord Almighty. I will make you like a woman whose skirt is up over her face. I will show the countries that you are like that woman. You will be like a woman who is not wearing any clothes.
- Ezekiel 21:9‘Son of man, speak my message to the people. Say, “This is what the Lord says: Look at my sword! It is sharp and it shines brightly.
- Ezekiel 5:12Illness or famine will kill one third of your people inside the city. The soldiers who are around the city will kill a third of your people. And I will chase away a third of them to all parts of the earth. I will cause their enemies to run after them with their swords.
- Ezekiel 14:17Or I might bring an enemy to attack that nation. I would say, “Soldiers with swords should destroy the whole land.” I would cause them to kill both people and animals.
- Exodus 15:9The enemy said, “We will go after them. We will catch them. We will destroy them with our swords. We will do whatever we want to them. We will take all their valuable things for ourselves.”
- Leviticus 26:25He will send enemy soldiers to kill the people. They have not done what they promised to do. So he will punish them for that. If they go back to their cities, he will send them diseases. The enemy will win the war.
- Deuteronomy 32:41I will make my sword very sharp. It will move like lightning as I hold it in my hand. I will punish my enemies as they deserve. I will pay back everyone who hates me.
- Psalms 17:13Lord, please do something! Fight against them! Knock them down! Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
- Isaiah 10:5It will be very bad for Assyria! I will use its army to punish my people, because I am angry with them. Assyria will be like a stick that I use to beat my people. That is how I will show them my anger.
- Isaiah 34:5The Lord says, ‘My sword has finished its work in the skies. Now it will come to punish Edom. Those are the people that I have decided to destroy.’
Commentaries on Ezekiel 21:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Behold, I am against thee - Dismal news! When God is against us, who can be for us? And will draw forth my sword - War. And will cut off from thee - The land of Judea. The righteous and the wicked - All shall be removed from thee. Some shall be cut off - removed by the sword; shall be slain in battle, or by the pestilence; and some shall be cut off - die by the famine; and some shall be cut off - removed from the land by captivity. Now, among the two…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-5The Lord himself was the true enemy Israel needed to fear. He was about to bring a complete judgment against them. Normally, people expect the righteous to escape judgment and the wicked to receive it. This contrast is like the green tree and the dry tree in the parable (Ezekiel 20:47–48). God’s judgment on sin would be like a very hot fire. It would burn everything it touched.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. righteous ... wicked--not contradictory of Eze 18:4, 9 and Ge 18:23. Ezekiel here views the mere outward aspect of the indiscriminate universality of the national calamity. But really the same captivity to the "righteous" would prove a blessing as a wholesome discipline, which to the "wicked" would be an unmitigated punishment. The godly were sealed with a mark (Eze 9:4), not for outward exemption from the common calamity, but as marked for the secret…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 21:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 21
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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