Ezekiel 21:24

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:‘Because you have brought up your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְאַתָּ֨ה בֶן־אָדָ֜ם שִׂים־לְךָ֣ ׀ שְׁנַ֣יִם דְּרָכִ֗ים לָבוֹא֙ חֶ֣רֶב מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֔ל מֵאֶ֥רֶץ אֶחָ֖ד יֵצְא֣וּ שְׁנֵיהֶ֑ם וְיָ֣ד בָּרֵ֔א בְּרֹ֥אשׁ דֶּֽרֶךְ־עִ֖יר בָּרֵֽא

Transliteration

wə-ʾattâ ben-ʾādām śîm-ləkā šənayim dərākîm lābôʾ ḥereb melek-bābel mēʾereṣ ʾeḥād yēṣəʾû šənêhem wə-yād bārēʾ bərōʾš derek-ʿîr bārēʾ

Grammar Details

• *wə*-*ʾattâ*: conjunction + pronoun, masculine singular - and you
• *ben*-*ʾādām*: construct phrase - son of man
• *śîm*-*ləkā*: qal imperative, masculine singular + preposition + 2nd person masculine singular suffix - set for yourself
• *šənayim*: numeral, masculine dual - two
• *dərākîm*: noun, feminine plural - ways/roads
• *lābôʾ*: qal infinitive construct + preposition - for the coming of
• *ḥereb*: noun, feminine singular - sword
• *melek*-*bābel*: construct phrase - king of Babylon
• *mēʾereṣ*: preposition + noun, feminine singular - from land
• *ʾeḥād*: numeral, masculine singular - one
• *yēṣəʾû*: qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural - they will go out
• *šənêhem*: numeral, masculine dual construct + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - both of them
• *wə*-*yād*: conjunction + noun, feminine singular - and hand/marker
• *bārēʾ*: qal imperative, masculine singular - create/cut/mark
• *bərōʾš*: preposition + noun, masculine singular construct - at the head of
• *derek*-*ʿîr*: construct phrase - way of city

Word Meanings

• *śîm*: set/place/appoint
• *dərākîm*: ways/roads/paths
• *lābôʾ*: to come/for coming/to enter
• *ḥereb*: sword/warfare/destruction
• *mēʾereṣ*: from land/from country/from territory
• *yēṣəʾû*: they go out/they proceed/they depart
• *yād*: hand/marker/sign/memorial
• *bārēʾ*: create/cut/choose/mark
• *bərōʾš*: at head of/at beginning of/at top of
• *ʿîr*: city/town/settlement

Referenced Verses

• Isa 3:9 : 9 The look on their faces testifies to their guilt; like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. Woe to them! For they bring disaster on themselves.
• Isa 22:17-18 : 17 Look, the LORD will throw you far away, you mere man! He will wrap you up tightly. 18 He will wind you up tightly into a ball and throw you into a wide, open land. There you will die, and there with you will be your impressive chariots, which bring disgrace to the house of your master.
• Jer 2:34 : 34 Even your clothes are stained with the lifeblood of the poor who had not done anything wrong; you did not catch them breaking into your homes. Yet, in spite of all these things you have done,
• Jer 3:2 : 2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. Where have you not been ravished? You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the wilderness. You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.
• Jer 5:27-28 : 27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 28 That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor.
• Jer 6:15 : 15 Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,”says the LORD.
• Jer 8:12 : 12 Are they ashamed because they have done such disgusting things? No, they are not at all ashamed! They do not even know how to blush! So they will die just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them, says the LORD.
• Jer 9:2-7 : 2 (9:1) I wish I had a lodging place in the wilderness where I could spend some time like a weary traveler. Then I would desert my people and walk away from them because they are all unfaithful to God, a congregation of people that has been disloyal to him. 3 The Lord Laments That He Has No Choice But to Judge Them The LORD says,“These people are like soldiers who have readied their bows. Their tongues are always ready to shoot out lies. They have become powerful in the land, but they have not done so by honest means. Indeed, they do one evil thing after another and do not pay attention to me. 4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends. He must not even trust any of his relatives. For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. And all of his friends will tell lies about him. 5 One friend deceives another and no one tells the truth. These people have trained themselves to tell lies. They do wrong and are unable to repent. 6 They do one act of violence after another, and one deceitful thing after another. They refuse to pay attention to me,” says the LORD. 7 Therefore the LORD of Heaven’s Armies,“I will now purify them in the fires of affliction and test them. The wickedness of my dear people has left me no choice. What else can I do?
• Jer 15:2 : 2 If they ask you,‘Where should we go?’ tell them the LORD says this:“Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease. Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war. Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation. Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.”
• Ezek 16:16-22 : 16 You took some of your clothing and made for yourself decorated high places; you engaged in prostitution on them. You went to him to become his. 17 You also took your beautiful jewelry, made of my gold and my silver I had given to you, and made for yourself male images and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 You took your embroidered clothing and used it to cover them; you offered my olive oil and my incense to them. 19 As for my food that I gave you– the fine flour, olive oil, and honey I fed you– you placed it before them as a soothing aroma. That is exactly what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD. 20 “‘You took your sons and your daughters whom you bore to me and you sacrificed them as food for the idols to eat. As if your prostitution was not enough, 21 you slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 22 And with all your abominable practices and prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, kicking around in your blood.
• Ezek 22:3-9 : 3 Then say,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city, who spills blood within herself(which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols(which results in impurity), 4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, full of turmoil. 6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you. 10 They have sexual relations with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. 11 One commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister– his father’s daughter– within you. 12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
• Ezek 22:24-31 : 24 “Son of man, say to her:‘You are a land that receives no rain or showers in the day of my anger.’ 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. 26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit. 28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the resident foreigner and denied them justice. 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 31 So I have poured my anger on them, and destroyed them with the fire of my fury. I hereby repay them for what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
• Ezek 23:5-9 : 5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians– warriors 6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired– with all their idols. 8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men went to bed with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted. 10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women, and they executed judgments against her. 11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians– governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, 15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians whose native land is Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, I was disgusted with her, just as I had been disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after her lovers there, whose genitals were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions. 21 This is how you assessed the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed your young breasts.
• Ezek 24:7 : 7 For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
• Hos 4:2 : 2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.
• Amos 9:1-3 : 1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar and he said,“Strike the tops of the support pillars, so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the survivors with the sword. No one will be able to run away; no one will be able to escape. 2 Even if they could dig down into the netherworld, my hand would pull them up from there. Even if they could climb up to heaven, I would drag them down from there. 3 Even if they were to hide on the top of Mount Carmel, I would hunt them down and take them from there. Even if they tried to hide from me at the bottom of the sea, from there I would command the Sea Serpent to bite them.
• Mic 3:10-12 : 10 You build Zion through bloody crimes, Jerusalem through unjust violence. 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!” 12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!