Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
- KJV Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
- NKJV Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.
- NASB You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
- NLT one road going to Ammon and its capital, Rabbah, and the other to Judah and fortified Jerusalem.
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
One road leads to Rabbah of the Ammonites, the other to fortified Jerusalem in Judah. Both cities lie in the sword's path.
Overview
Ezekiel specifies the two destinations awaiting Babylon's choice, showing that neither Ammon nor Judah will ultimately escape. Jerusalem's fortifications offer no real security against God's appointed judgment. The verse warns that confidence in defenses is vain when the Lord has decreed reckoning for sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Jer 49:2Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned. Then Israel will drive out their dispossessors, says the LORD.
- Amos 1:14So I will kindle a fire in the walls of Rabbah to consume its citadels amid war cries on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of tempest.
- Ezek 25:5I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels, and Ammon a resting place for sheep. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’
- Deut 3:11(For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- Ps 125:1–2A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
- Ps 48:12–13March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers,
- 2 Sam 12:26Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
- Lam 4:12The kings of the earth did not believe, nor any people of the world, that an enemy or a foe could enter the gates of Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 26:9Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and the angle in the wall, and he fortified them.
- Isa 22:10You counted the houses of Jerusalem and tore them down to strengthen the wall.
- 2 Chr 32:5Then Hezekiah worked resolutely to rebuild all the broken sections of the wall and to raise up towers on it. He also built an outer wall and reinforced the supporting terraces of the City of David, and he produced an abundance of weapons and shields.
- 2 Sam 5:9So David took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built it up all the way around, from the supporting terraces inward.
- 2 Chr 33:14After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David from west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the Fish Gate, and he brought it around the hill of Ophel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.
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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 21:20 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
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