Bible Strands
Ezekiel 21:26
This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord GOD speaks through Ezekiel to the profane and wicked prince of Israel at the moment his final punishment is about to fall.
The words — The Hebrew הָסִיר (ha.Sir) means "to remove" and מִצְנֶפֶת (mitz.Ne.fet) denotes the "turban," while עֲטָרָה ('a.ta.Rah) refers to the "crown," commanding the stripping of royal insignia.
The thread — This pattern of divine reversal runs through Ezekiel 17:24, Psalms 75:7, and Jeremiah 13:18, where God actively brings down the exalted and lifts up the lowly.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to acknowledge that human power is provisional and subject to God's judgment, demanding the abandonment of pride and the acceptance of divine authority.
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
Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 17:24 Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down and make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree and make the withered tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.’”
- Psalms 75:7 but it is God who judges; He brings down one and exalts another.
- Jeremiah 13:18 Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”
- Jeremiah 52:31 On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned Jehoiachin king of Judah and released him from prison.
- Jeremiah 52:9 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on Zedekiah.
- Ezekiel 16:12 I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.
- Luke 1:52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but has exalted the humble.
- 1 Samuel 2:7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.
- 2 Kings 25:6 The Chaldeans seized the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where they pronounced judgment on him.
- 2 Kings 25:27 On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Judah’s King Jehoiachin, in the year Evil-merodach became king of Babylon, he released King Jehoiachin of Judah from prison.