Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
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.
- BSB Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
- 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 come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
- Amos 1:14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:
- Ezek 25:5And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching place for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
- Deut 3:11For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
- Ps 125:1–2They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
- Ps 48:12–13Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
- 2 Sam 12:26And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.
- Lam 4:12The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 26:9Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them.
- Isa 22:10And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall.
- 2 Chr 32:5Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance.
- 2 Sam 5:9So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
- 2 Chr 33:14Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced 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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