Bible Strands
Ezekiel 33:28
I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks through Ezekiel to the exiled community in Babylon, immediately following the judgment pronounced on those hiding in ruins and strongholds in the preceding verse. The declaration marks the final stage of the prophetic warning regarding the fate of the land and its inhabitants.
The words — The Hebrew terms שְׁמָמָה (shemamah) and מְשַמָּה (meshamah) denote a desolation and a waste, while גְּאוֹן עֻזָּהּ (ge'on uzah) literally means the pride of its strength. These lexical units directly anchor the BSB translation’s description of the land becoming uninhabitable and its power ceasing.
The thread — The motif of ending national pride and rendering the land desolate appears in Ezekiel 7:24 and echoes the historical judgments recorded in Jeremiah 44:2 and Jeremiah 44:6. These passages collectively trace God’s consistent response to covenant rebellion through territorial desolation.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that political and military strength cannot withstand divine judgment. It requires the reader to acknowledge that desolation serves as a definitive revelation of God’s sovereignty rather than a mere historical calamity.
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
For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 7:24 So I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will end the pride of the mighty, and their holy places will be profaned.
- Jeremiah 44:2 “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster that I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation
- Jeremiah 44:6 Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.
- Jeremiah 44:22 So the LORD could no longer endure the evil deeds and detestable acts you committed, and your land became a desolation, a horror, and an object of cursing, without inhabitant, as it is this day.
- Ezekiel 6:14 I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
- 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.’
- Micah 7:13 Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the fruit of their deeds.
- 2 Chronicles 36:21 So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Jeremiah 9:11 “And I will make Jerusalem a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”