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You have not gone up into the breaches, nor did you build up a stone wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the day of the Lord.
Ezekiel 13:5 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB You have not gone up into the gaps, neither built up the wall for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of Yahweh.
  • KJV Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
  • BSB You did not go up to the gaps or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it would stand in the battle on the Day of the LORD.
  • NKJV You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.
  • NLT They have done nothing to repair the breaks in the walls around the nation. They have not helped it to stand firm in battle on the day of the Lord.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

They have not repaired the breaches or built up the wall so Israel could stand in the day of the LORD's battle.

Overview

Faithful prophets would have stood in the gaps with truth and intercession to fortify the people against judgment (cf. 22:30). Instead these failed to defend Israel spiritually. The metaphor highlights the protective calling of true ministry, ultimately fulfilled in Christ, the one who truly stands for His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 36

  • Ezek 22:30“I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
  • Ps 106:23Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.
  • Isa 58:12Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.
  • Isa 13:9Behold, the day of Yahweh comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy its sinners out of it.
  • Isa 13:6Wail; for the day of Yahweh is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
  • Jer 23:22But if they had stood in my council, then they would have caused my people to hear my words, and would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.
  • Zeph 2:2–3before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of Yahweh comes on you, before the day of Yahweh’s anger comes on you.
  • Ezek 7:19They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls, neither fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
  • Joel 3:14Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Yahweh is near, in the valley of decision.
  • Eph 6:13–14Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.
  • Mal 4:5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
  • Rev 20:8–9and he will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
  • Lam 2:13–14What shall I testify to you? what shall I liken to you, daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare to you, that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion? For your breach is great like the sea: who can heal you?
  • Amos 5:18–20“Woe to you who desire the day of Yahweh! Why do you long for the day of Yahweh? It is darkness, and not light.
  • Ezek 30:3For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations.
  • Rev 6:17for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
  • Rev 16:14for they are spirits of demons, performing signs; which go out to the kings of the whole inhabited earth, to gather them together for the war of that great day of God, the Almighty.
  • Jer 27:18But if they are prophets, and if Yahweh’s word is with them, let them now make intercession to Yahweh of Armies, that the vessels which are left in Yahweh’s house, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, don’t go to Babylon.
  • 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
  • Joel 2:31The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.
  • Joel 1:15Alas for the day! For the day of Yahweh is at hand, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
  • 1 Th 5:2For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night.
  • Zeph 1:14–18The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.
  • Joel 2:1Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of Yahweh comes, for it is close at hand:
  • 1 Sam 12:23Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
  • Mal 1:9“Now, please entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With this, will he accept any of you?” says Yahweh of Armies.
  • Jer 15:1Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight, and let them go out!
  • Num 16:21–22“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!”
  • Isa 2:12For there will be a day of Yahweh of Armies for all that is proud and haughty, and for all that is lifted up; and it shall be brought low:
  • Ps 76:7You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
  • Isa 27:4Wrath is not in me, but if I should find briers and thorns, I would do battle! I would march on them and I would burn them together.
  • Num 16:47–48Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. Behold, the plague has begun among the people. He put on the incense, and made atonement for the people.
  • Exod 32:11–12Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
  • Job 40:9Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
  • Exod 17:9–13Moses said to Joshua, “Choose men for us, and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with God’s rod in my hand.”
  • Isa 34:8For Yahweh has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 13:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.

How Ezekiel 13:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.