Ezekiel 21:20
18 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
19 “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.
Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.
22 In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
- KJV
- Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
- WEB
- You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
- ASV
- Thou shalt appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
- DARBY
- Appoint a way for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah at the fenced [city] of Jerusalem.
- BLB
- Appoint a way for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.
- ÅB
- En vei skal du gjøre som sverdet kan fare fram på til Rabba i ammonittenes land, og en til Juda, inn i Jerusalem, den faste by.
- OTB
- Merk en vei for sverdet til å komme til Rabba hos ammonittene og til Juda inn i befestede Jerusalem.
- B1930
- En vei skal du gjøre som sverdet kan fare frem på til Rabba i ammonittenes land, og en til Juda, inn i Jerusalem, den faste by.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Amos 1:14
So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
Read in contextJeremiah 49:2
Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.
Read in contextDeuteronomy 3:11
(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
Read in contextEzekiel 25:5
I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
Read in contextPsalms 125:1–2
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
Read in contextPsalms 48:12–13
March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers,
Read in context2 Samuel 5:9
So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
Read in context2 Chronicles 33:14
After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
Read in context