New English Translation
Ezekiel 5:12
12A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.
Ezekiel 5:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
- New International Version (NIV)A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.
- English Standard Version (ESV)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Context of Ezekiel 5:12
10Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors to the winds. 11“Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare you. A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them. 13Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy when I have fully vented my rage against them. 14“I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by.
Read all of Ezekiel 5Ezekiel 5:12 word by word
שְׁלִשִׁתֵ֞יךְ בַּדֶּ֣בֶר יָמ֗וּתוּ וּבָֽרָעָב֙ יִכְל֣וּ בְתוֹכֵ֔ךְ וְהַ֨שְּׁלִשִׁ֔ית בַּחֶ֖רֶב יִפְּל֣וּ סְבִיבוֹתָ֑יִךְ וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁית֙ לְכָל־ר֣וּחַ אֱזָרֶ֔ה וְחֶ֖רֶב אָרִ֥יק אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- A third partשְׁלִישִׁיshelîyshîy · thirdH7992
- of thee shall dieמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- with the pestilenceדֶּ֫בֶרdeber · pestilenceH1698
- and with famineרָעָבrâ‛âb · famineH7458
- shall they be consumedכָּלָהkâlâh · to end: destroyH3615
- in the midstתָּ֫וֶךְtâvek · midstH8432
- shall fallנָפַלnâphal · to fall: killH5307
- by the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
- round aboutסָבִיבsâbîyb sebîybâh · aroundH5439
- thee; and I will scatterזָרָהzârâh · to scatterH2219
- into all the windsרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
- and I will draw outרִיקrûq · to emptyH7324
- afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
Cross-references for Ezekiel 5:12
- Ezekiel 5:2Burn a third of it in the fire inside the city when the days of your siege are completed. Take a third and slash it with a sword all around the city. Scatter a third to the wind, and I will unleash a sword behind them.
- Ezekiel 6:12The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them.
- Jeremiah 15:2If they ask you, ‘Where should we go?’ tell them the Lord says this: “Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease. Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war. Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation. Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.”
- Jeremiah 21:9Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives.
- Zechariah 13:7“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is my associate,” says the Lord who rules over all. Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
- Ezekiel 6:8“‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands.
- Jeremiah 9:16I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known anything about. I will send people chasing after them with swords until I have destroyed them.’”
- Zechariah 7:14‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste.”
- Ezekiel 12:14All his retinue – his attendants and his troops – I will scatter to every wind; I will unleash a sword behind them.
- Leviticus 26:33I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
- Deuteronomy 28:65Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair.
- Jeremiah 42:16the wars you fear will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt. The starvation you are worried about will follow you there to Egypt. You will die there.
- Jeremiah 43:10Then tell them, ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “I will bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I have buried. He will pitch his royal tent over them.
- Jeremiah 44:27I will indeed see to it that disaster, not prosperity, happens to them. All the people of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will die in war or from starvation until not one of them is left.
- Amos 9:4Even when their enemies drive them into captivity, from there I will command the sword to kill them. I will not let them out of my sight; they will experience disaster, not prosperity.”
Commentaries on Ezekiel 5:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12A third part of thee - See the note on Ezekiel 5:1-4; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12The judgments Ezekiel 5:12-17 of “famine, pestilence,” and the “sword,” were precisely those which attended the coming siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 15:2 ff). The “drawing out the sword after them” indicates that the anger of God will follow them even to the land of their exile (compare Jeremiah 42:19-22; Leviticus 26:25), and that the horrors of the Babylonian siege are but the beginning of the sorrows of the nation.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-17Verses 5-17 The sentence passed upon Jerusalem is very dreadful, the manner of expression makes it still more so. Who is able to stand in God's sight when he is angry? Those who live and die impenitent, will perish for ever unpitied; there is a day coming when the Lord will not spare. Let not persons or churches, who change the Lord's statutes, expect to escape the doom of Jerusalem. Let us endeavour to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-13The covenant (the binding promise relationship) between God and his people forms the foundation of Ezekiel’s messages. When Ezekiel listed the charges against the Israelites, he used the same language as the covenant made at Mount Sinai. That covenant was later renewed in the book of Deuteronomy. The people refused to obey God’s decrees and regulations (his laws and commands). They also worshiped detestable idols (false gods that God hates). These idols…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. Statement in plain terms of what was intended by the symbols (Eze 5:2; see Eze 6:12; Jr 15:2; 21:9). draw out ... sword after them--(Le 26:33). Skeptics object; no such thing happened under Zedekiah, as is here foretold; namely, that a third part of the nation should die by pestilence, a third part by the sword, and a third be scattered unto all winds, and a sword sent after them. But the prophecy is not restricted to Zedekiah's time. It includes all…Read the comment
Topics related to Ezekiel 5:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ezekiel 5
- 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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