Ezekiel 21 · Verse 3

Ezekiel 21:3

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.
Ezekiel 21:3, King James Version

Ezekiel 21:3 in other translations

BSBand tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
WEBTell the land of Israel, ‘The LORD says: “Behold, I am against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
ASVand say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
YLTand thou hast said unto the ground of Israel: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am against thee, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off from thee righteous and wicked.
DARBYand say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
BBEAnd say to the land of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, and I will take my sword out of its cover, cutting off from you the upright and the evil.
WebsterAnd say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

What does Ezekiel 21:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. 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 interpositions of Providence, overruling even evil to their good. The godly were by comparison so few, that not their salvation but the universality of the judgment is brought into view here.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 3 Behold, 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 latter classes there might be many righteous as well as wicked. And when all the provisions were consumed, so that there was no more bread in the city, during the siege by Nebuchadnezzar, the righteous must have suffered as well as the wicked; for they could not be preserved alive, but by miracle, when there was no bread; nor was their perishing for want any loss to them, because the Lord would take them straight to his glory. And however men in general are unwilling to die, yet there is no instance, nor can there be, of any man's complaint that he got to heaven too soon. Again, if God had permitted none to be carried off captive but the wicked, the case of these would be utterly hopeless, as there would be none to set a good example, to preach repentance, to reprove sin, or to show God's willingness to forgive sinners. But God, in his mercy, permitted many of the righteous to be carried off also, that the wicked might not be totally abandoned, or put beyond the reach of being saved. Hence, both Ezekiel and Daniel, and indeed several others, prophets and righteous men, were thus cut off from the land, and carried into captivity. And how much was God's glory and the good of men promoted by this! What a seed of salvation was sown, even in the heathen countries, by thus cutting off the righteous with the wicked! To this we owe, under God, many of the Psalms, the whole of the Book of Ezekiel, all the prophecies of Daniel, the bright example of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, the decrees passed in favor of the religion of the true God by Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Darius, etc. And to this dispensation of God's merciful providence we owe the Books and example of Ezra and Nehemiah. Where then is the injustice, so loudly declaimed against, of God's thus cutting off from the land of Judea the righteous with the wicked? The righteous were not cut off for the crimes of the wicked, (see chap. 18), nor were these crimes visited upon them, yet several of them shared in the common calamity, but none perished. Those that were removed by a violent death, (and I believe we shall find few such), got a speedier entrance into eternal glory.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Ezekiel 21:1-17

The ruin of Judah under the emblem of a sharp sword. (Ezek 21:1-17) The approach of the king of Babylon described. (Ezek 21:18-27) The destruction of the Ammonites. (Ezek 21:28-32) Verses 1-17 Here is an explanation of the parable in the last chapter. It is declared that the Lord was about to cut off Jerusalem and the whole land, that all might know it was his decree against a wicked and rebellious people. It…

Read the full comment on Ezekiel 21:1-17 →

Ezekiel 21:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְאָמַרְתָּ֞ve.'a.mar.Taand you will sayH559
לְאַדְמַ֣תle.'ad.Matto [the] land ofH127
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
כֹּ֚הkohthusH3541
אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe saysH559
יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahwehH3068
הִנְנִ֣יhi.Nihere IH2005
אֵלַ֔יִךְ'e.La.yikh[am] against youH413
וְהוֹצֵאתִ֥יve.ho.tze.Tiand I will bring outH3318
חַרְבִּ֖יchar.Bisword myH2719
מִתַּעְרָ֑הּmi.ta'.Rahfrom sheath itsH8593
וְהִכְרַתִּ֥יve.hikh.ra.Tiand I will cut offH3772
מִמֵּ֖ךְmi.Mekhfrom youH4480
צַדִּ֥יקtza.Dik[the] righteousH6662
וְרָשָֽׁע\׃ve.ra.Sha'and [the] wickedH7563

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Ezekiel 21:3

  • Job 9:22

    This is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the wicked.

  • Ezekiel 5:8

    Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

  • Jeremiah 21:13

    Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

  • Ezekiel 14:21

    For thus saith the Lord God; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

  • Ezekiel 5:12

    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.

  • Ezekiel 21:19

    Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

  • Ezekiel 14:17

    Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:

  • Nahum 3:5

    Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.

  • Nahum 2:13

    Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will burn her chariots in the smoke, and the sword shall devour thy young lions: and I will cut off thy prey from the earth, and the voice of thy messengers shall no more be heard.

  • Ezekiel 21:9-11

    Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

  • Jeremiah 15:2-4

    And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the Lord; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the Lord: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

  • Psalms 17:13

    Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Behold.
5:8; 26:3; Jer 21:13; 50:31; 51:25; Na 2:13; 3:5
will draw.
9-11,19; 5:12; 14:17,21; Ex 15:9; Le 26:25,33; De 32:41,42
Ps 17:13; Isa 10:5; 34:5; Jer 47:6,7; 51:20; Zep 2:12; Zec 13:7
the righteous.
9:5,6; Job 9:22; Ec 9:2; Jer 15:2-4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Ezekiel 21:2

    Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

  • Ezekiel 21:3

    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.

  • Ezekiel 21:4

    Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

Read all of Ezekiel 21

Ezekiel 21:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dirás á la tierra de Israel: Así ha dicho Jehová: He aquí, que yo contra ti, y sacaré mi espada de su vaina, y talaré de ti al justo y al impío.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et dis à la forêt du midi: Écoute la parole de l’ Éternel: Ainsi dit le Seigneur, l’ Éternel: Voici, j’allume en toi un feu qui consumera en toi tout bois vert et tout bois sec; la flamme flamboyante ne sera pas éteinte, et tout ce qu’elle rencontrera en sera brûlé, du midi jusqu’au nord.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und sprich zu dem Walde des Südens: Höre das Wort Jehovas! So spricht der Herr, Jehova: Siehe, ich will in dir ein Feuer anzünden, welches jeden grünen Baum und jeden dürren Baum in dir verzehren wird; die lodernde Flamme wird nicht erlöschen, und vom Süden bis zum Norden werden alle Angesichter dadurch versengt werden.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et dices terræ Israël: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ad te, et ejiciam gladium meum de vagina sua, et occidam in te justum et impium.