Bible Strands
Ezekiel 35:14
This is what the Lord GOD says: While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord God speaks through Ezekiel to Edom, responding directly to the nation's verbal boasting and its delight over the desolation of Judah.
The words — כֹּה (koh) means "thus," functioning as a formal oracle marker, and שְׁמָמָה (she.ma.Mah) denotes "desolation," the specific ruin God will inflict.
The thread — The phrase "the whole earth rejoices" echoes Isaiah 14:7 and Jeremiah 51:48, but Ezekiel 35:14 subverts the motif by declaring that God will impose desolation precisely while the world celebrates.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to accept that divine judgment proceeds regardless of human triumphalism, demanding acknowledgment that national outcomes are subject to God's direct decree.
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; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 14:7 All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
- Isaiah 65:13 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
- Jeremiah 51:48 Then heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy over Babylon because the destroyers from the north will come against her,” declares the LORD.