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Ezekiel 21:21-23
New English Translation

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork[a] in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens:[b] He shakes arrows, he consults idols,[c] he examines[d] animal livers.[e] 22 Into his right hand[f] comes the portent for Jerusalem—to set up battering rams, to give the signal[g] for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry,[h] to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall. 23 But those in Jerusalem[i] will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths,[j] but the king of Babylon[k] will accuse them of violations[l] in order to seize them.[m]

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “mother.”
  2. Ezekiel 21:21 sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.
  3. Ezekiel 21:21 tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).
  4. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “sees.”
  5. Ezekiel 21:21 tn Heb “the liver.”
  6. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.
  7. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.
  8. Ezekiel 21:22 tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”
  9. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  10. Ezekiel 21:23 sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).
  11. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  12. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Or “iniquity.”
  13. Ezekiel 21:23 tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt to be captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18), thus justifying their capture.
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Ezekiel 20
Ezekiel 22
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