Ezekiel 21:22

²⁰ 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.

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.

²³ It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

²⁴ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds—because you have come to remembrance—you shall be taken in hand.

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: 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.
KJV: 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.
WEB: In his right hand was the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, and to build forts.
ASV: In his right hand was the divination [for] Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.
DARBY: In his right hand is the lot of Jerusalem to appoint battering-rams, to open the mouth for bloodshed, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast mounds, to build siege-towers.
BLB: In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to set up battering rams, to open the mouth with shattering, to lift high the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, and to build a wall.

ÅB: I sin høyre hånd får han loddet: Jerusalem; der skal han stille opp murbrekkere, åpne munnen til krigsskrik, lufte røsten med hærrop - stille opp murbrekkere mot portene, kaste opp en voll og bygge skanser.
OTB: I hans høyre hånd kommer loddet for Jerusalem, for å sette opp rambukker, for å gi kommandoen til slakt, for å heve kampropet, for å sette rambukker mot portene, for å bygge en rampe og å reise beleiringsverk.
B1930: I sin høire hånd får han loddet: Jerusalem; der skal han stille op murbrekkere, åpne munnen til krigsskrik, lufte røsten med hærrop - stille op murbrekkere mot portene, kaste op en voll og bygge skanser.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Ezekiel 4:2
Then lay siege against it: Construct a siege wall, build a ramp to it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it on all sides.
Read in context
Ezekiel 26:9
He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and tear down your towers with his axes.
Read in context
Joshua 6:20
So when the rams’ horns sounded, the people shouted. When they heard the blast of the horn, the people gave a great shout, and the wall collapsed. Then all the people charged straight into the city and captured it.
Read in context
Joshua 6:10
But Joshua had commanded the people: “Do not give a battle cry or let your voice be heard; do not let one word come out of your mouth until the day I tell you to shout. Then you are to shout!”
Read in context
Jeremiah 52:4
So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army. They encamped outside the city and built a siege wall all around it.
Read in context
Jeremiah 32:24
See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!
Read in context
Jeremiah 33:4
For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses of this city and the palaces of the kings of Judah that have been torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:
Read in context
1 Samuel 17:20
So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry.
Read in context