Bible Strands
Ezekiel 24:21
Tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I am about to desecrate My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul. And the sons and daughters you left behind will fall by the sword.’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord Yahweh addresses the house of Israel at the moment of pronouncing imminent judgment. He states that He will desecrate their sanctuary and that their remaining children will fall by the sword.
The words — הִנְ/נִי (hi./Ni) translates literally as “here/ I,” signaling the immediate onset of the announced action. אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִה ('a.do.Nai Yah.weh) identifies the speaker as the Lord Yahweh.
The thread — This judgment on a trusted sanctuary parallels the destruction of Shiloh in Jeremiah 7:14. The threat against remaining children mirrors the sword and slaughter described in Ezekiel 23:47.
Why it lands — The text states that God will defile what Israel trusted as its greatest treasure and that their remaining children will die by the sword. It requires a reader to accept that divine presence does not guarantee immunity from consequences and to abandon reliance on physical symbols of security.
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
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 23:47 The mob will stone them and cut them down with their swords. They will kill their sons and daughters and burn down their houses.
- Psalms 27:4 One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.
- Jeremiah 7:14 therefore what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears My Name, the house in which you trust, the place that I gave to you and your fathers.
- Ezekiel 23:25 And I will set My jealous rage against you, and they will deal with you in fury. They will cut off your noses and ears, and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your remnant will be consumed by fire.
- Psalms 84:1 For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
- Jeremiah 6:11 But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.
- Jeremiah 16:3 For this is what the LORD says concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, and the mothers who bore them, and the fathers who fathered them in this land:
- Lamentations 2:6 He has laid waste His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has destroyed His place of meeting. The LORD has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and Sabbaths. In His fierce anger He has despised both king and priest.
- Ezekiel 24:16 “Son of man, behold, I am about to take away the desire of your eyes with a fatal blow. But you must not mourn or weep or let your tears flow.
- Psalms 74:7 They have burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they have defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.