Bible Strands
Ezekiel 9:8
While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord GOD, when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem, will You destroy the entire remnant of Israel?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ezekiel addresses the Lord during the execution of judgment in Jerusalem, immediately after the slayers begin killing throughout the city in Ezekiel 9:7.
The words — וַֽ/יְהִי֙ [va/y.Hi] translates literally as "and it was," while וָ/אֶפְּלָ֨/ה [va./'e.pe.La/h] means "and I fell." These terms mark the narrative shift to the prophet's physical posture of distress.
The thread — The prophet’s facedown posture and vocal plea recur in Numbers 14:5, Numbers 16:45, and Ezekiel 11:13. These passages share the pattern of intercessory collapse during national crisis.
Why it lands — The text records the prophet's isolated plea asking whether divine wrath will erase Israel's remnant. It requires a reader to acknowledge that intercession occurs precisely when judgment proceeds, without guaranteeing its outcome.
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
And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 11:13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”
- Numbers 14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel.
- Numbers 16:45 “Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.” And Moses and Aaron fell facedown.
- Joshua 7:6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
- 1 Chronicles 21:16 When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
- Ezekiel 4:14 “Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.”
- Genesis 18:23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
- Numbers 16:4 When Moses heard this, he fell facedown.
- Numbers 16:21 “Separate yourselves from this congregation so that I may consume them in an instant.”
- Deuteronomy 9:18 Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD and provoking Him to anger.