Ezekiel 21:3
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and 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.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
In this chapter we have, I. An explication of the prophecy in the close of the foregoing chapter concerning the fire in the forest, which the people complained they could not understand (Eze 21:1-5), with directions to the prophet to show himself deeply affected with it (Eze 21:6, Eze 21:7). II. A further prediction of the sword that was coming upon the land, by which all should be laid waste; and this expressed very emphatically (Eze 21:8-17). III. A prospect given of the king of Babylon's approach to Jerusalem, to which he was determined by divination (Eze 21:18-24). IV. Sentence passed upon Zedekiah king of Judah (Eze 21:25-27). V. The destruction of the Ammonites by the sword foretold (Eze 21:28-32). Thus is this chapter all threatenings.
Open source ↗21:3-5 The Lord was the fundamental enemy whom Israel had to fear, for he was about to unleash an all-encompassing judgment against it. • One would expect the righteous to avoid judgment and the wicked to receive it. This pairing parallels the green tree and the dry tree of the parable (20:47-48). The judgment of sin would be like a very hot fire burning all it touched.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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Behold, I am against you who dwell above the valley, atop the rocky plateau— declares the LORD— you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our dwellings?”
It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
“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.
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it both man and beast?
Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms.
“Behold, I am against you,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will send your chariots up in smoke, and the sword will devour your young lions. I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voices of your messengers will no longer be heard.”
A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.