Bible Strands
Ezekiel 14:17
Or if I bring a sword against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through it,’ so that I cut off from it both man and beast,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the exiled Israelites through Ezekiel, outlining a hypothetical scenario to show that even the most righteous individuals could not prevent the destruction of a condemned land.
The words — The Hebrew חֶרֶב (che.rev) means "sword," and אָבִיא (a.vi) translates to "I will bring," indicating that the military invasion originates from divine command.
The thread — This motif of God bringing a sword against the land appears in Leviticus 26:25, Ezekiel 5:12, and Ezekiel 21:3 as a recurring instrument of covenant judgment.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that national judgment is irreversible and that human righteousness cannot override divine decree against a corrupt land.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
Cross-references
- Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
- Ezekiel 21:3 and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
- Ezekiel 5:12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.
- Zephaniah 1:3 “I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and the idols with their wicked worshipers. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 47:6 ‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
- Ezekiel 14:13 “Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,
- Ezekiel 25:13 therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I will stretch out My hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and beast. I will make it a wasteland, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 33:12 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: In this desolate place, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will once more be pastures for shepherds to rest their flocks.
- Ezekiel 5:17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”