and he sees the sword coming against that land and blows the ram’s horn to warn the people.
Parallel translations
- WEB if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
- KJV If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
- NKJV when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people,
- NASB and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the horn and warns the people,
- NLT When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people.
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
A faithful watchman who sees the sword coming blows the trumpet to warn the people. His duty is to sound the alarm regardless of the response.
Overview
The watchman's responsibility is simply to warn when he sees danger. Blowing the trumpet pictures the prophet's faithful proclamation of God's word. The emphasis falls on faithful warning as the watchman's God-given charge, a model for all who are entrusted with declaring God's truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Hos 8:1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
- Neh 4:20Wherever you hear the sound of the horn, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us!”
- Isa 58:1“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Neh 4:18And each of the builders worked with his sword strapped at his side. But the trumpeter stayed beside me.
- Joel 2:1Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—
- Jer 4:5Announce in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: “Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry aloud and say, ‘Assemble yourselves and let us flee to the fortified cities.’
- Jer 6:1“Run for cover, O sons of Benjamin; flee from Jerusalem! Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; send up a signal over Beth-haccherem, for disaster looms from the north, even great destruction.
- Ezek 33:8–9If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.
- Jer 51:27“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 33:3 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.