On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches;
Parallel translations
- KJV Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches:
- BSB All the birds of the air nested on its fallen trunk, and all the beasts of the field lived among its boughs.
- NKJV ‘On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens, And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches—
- NASB All the birds of the sky will nest on its fallen trunk, and all the animals of the field will rest on its fallen branches,
- NLT “The birds roost on its fallen trunk, and the wild animals lie among its branches.
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
Birds and beasts now perch on the fallen ruin, the same creatures that once sheltered in its living branches. The picture of scavengers settling on a corpse signals utter desolation.
Overview
In a grim reversal of verse 6, the creatures that found home in the flourishing tree now occupy its wreckage. This image of birds and beasts upon ruins is a recurring sign of judgment and abandonment in the prophets. The greatness that drew nations to its shade ends as a carcass picked over by the wild.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ezek 32:4I will leave you on the land, I will cast you out on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you.
- Ezek 29:5I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.
- Isa 18:6They will be left together for the ravenous birds of the mountains, and for the animals of the earth. The ravenous birds will summer on them, and all the animals of the earth will winter on them.
- Rev 19:17–18I saw an angel standing in the sun. He cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the sky, “Come! Be gathered together to the great supper of God,
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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 31:13 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.