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Yes, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I, too, will pile the kindling high.
Ezekiel 24:9 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the pile great.
  • KJV Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city! I will even make the pile for fire great.
  • NKJV ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great.
  • NASB Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “Woe to the bloody city! I also will make the wood pile great.
  • NLT “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: What sorrow awaits Jerusalem, the city of murderers! I myself will pile up the fuel beneath her.

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

God repeats the woe over the bloody city and promises to make the fire even greater. It reaffirms the certainty and intensity of the judgment.

Overview

The renewed 'Woe to the bloody city!' and the vow to 'make the pile great' heighten the sense of inescapable doom. The enlarged fire signals that the judgment will be more severe than the people imagine. Divine patience has limits, and persistent bloodshed and idolatry finally meet decisive wrath.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ezek 24:6Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents.
  • Hab 2:12Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and establishes a town by iniquity!
  • 2 Th 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
  • 2 Pet 3:7–12And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
  • Luke 13:34–35O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling!
  • Nah 3:1Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without prey.
  • Rev 14:20And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood that flowed from it rose as high as the bridles of the horses for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
  • Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
  • Isa 31:9Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
  • Ezek 22:19–22Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.
  • Isa 30:33For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
  • Rev 16:19The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
  • Rev 16:6For they have spilled the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, as they deserve.”
  • Ezek 22:31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
  • Jude 1:7In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

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 24:9YouTube · 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 24:9 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.