Yes, the sword is now being sharpened and polished; it is being prepared for the executioner.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is given to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened. Yes, it is polished, to give it into the hand of the killer.”’
- KJV 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.
- BSB The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished, to be placed in the hand of the slayer.
- NKJV And He has given it to be polished, That it may be handled; This sword is sharpened, and it is polished To be given into the hand of the slayer.’
- NASB And it is given to be polished, so that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to hand it over to the slaughterer.
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
The sword of judgment is sharpened and polished, ready to be placed into the hand of the executioner. It pictures a judgment that is deliberate, prepared, and certain.
Overview
Continuing the 'song of the sword,' Ezekiel describes God's judgment on Judah as a weapon honed for use. The imagery stresses that the coming Babylonian invasion is not random chaos but a purposeful instrument in God's hand. Such warnings expose the seriousness of sin and prepare us to value the One who would later bear God's sword of judgment in our place.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ezek 21:19“Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. They both shall come out of one land, and mark out a place; mark it out at the head of the way to the city.
- Jer 25:33The slain of Yahweh shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
- Jer 51:20–23“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.
- Jer 25:9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,” says Yahweh, “and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations around. I will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
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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 21:11 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.