Ezekiel 24:21
in Ezekiel 24Tell 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.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left behind shall fall by the sword.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Ezekiel 24
Commentary
8 notes on this verseProfane - Cast off, and put into the hands of Heathens. The excellency of your strength - So it was while God's presence was there. The desire - As much your desire, as my wife was mine; most dear to you.
This site's exposition
Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us
on Ezekiel 24:19-24
The answer names the coming loss in the same terms as the prophet's own. Gill reads the parallel as deliberately built, the temple to Jerusalem what the wife was to Ezekiel. JFB notes the command laid on the people, ye shall not mourn nor weep, turns Ezekiel's silence into theirs.
This site's exposition
the pride of your power
The temple is described in the same words used of the prophet's wife, as dear to the people as she was to him. Henry recalled Jeremiah 7, where the people trusted the temple as a charm. The children left in Jerusalem share its fall.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 15 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes with a plague, and you shall not mourn or weep, neither shall your tears flow. Sigh in silence, you shall not mourn for the dead. Your turban shall be on your head, and your sandals shall be on your feet; you shall not cover your lips nor eat the bread of mourners. Therefore, I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It was the pride of their strength; they prided in it as their strength that they were the temple of the Lord, Jer. vii. Note, The church-privileges that men are proud of are profaned by their sins, and it is just with God to profane them by his judgments.
6 Wherefore thus saith the Lord G OD ; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it. 7 For her blood is in the midst of her; she set it upon the top of a rock; she poured it not upon the ground, to cover it with dust;
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v6-7
Speak unto the house of Israel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
excellency of your strength--(compare Am 6:8). The object of your pride and confidence (Jer 7:4, 10, 14). desire of . . . eyes-- (Ps 27:4). The antitype to Ezekiel's wife (Eze 24:16). pitieth--loveth, as pity is akin to love: "yearned over." Profane--an appropriate word.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
23 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֱמֹ֣ר׀ | ʾemor | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְבֵ֣ית | leveit | to [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֮ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֣י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| יְהוִה֒ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3069 → | 306 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| מְחַלֵּ֤ל | mechalel | [am] about to profane | H2490 → | 143 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִקְדָּשִׁי֙ | mikdashi | sanctuary my | H4720 → | 75 times |
| גְּא֣וֹן | geon | [the] pride of | H1347 → | 49 times |
| עֻזְּכֶ֔ם | ʾuzekhem | strength your | H5797 → | 92 times |
| מַחְמַ֥ד | machmad | [the] desire of | H4261 → | 13 times |
| עֵֽינֵיכֶ֖ם | ʾeineikhem | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וּמַחְמַ֣ל | umachmal | and [the] love of | H4263 → | |
| נַפְשְׁכֶ֑ם | nafshekhem | being your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וּבְנֵיכֶ֧ם | uveneikhem | and sons your | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וּבְנֽוֹתֵיכֶ֛ם | uvenoteikhem | and daughters your | H1323 → | 588 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עֲזַבְתֶּ֖ם | ʾazavtem | you have left | H5800 → | 215 times |
| בַּחֶ֥רֶב | bacherev | by the sword | H2719 → | 413 times |
| יִפֹּֽלוּ׃ | yipolu | they will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
אֱמֹ֣ר׀say
ʾemorH559 →5305 times
לְבֵ֣יתto [the] house of
leveitH1004 →2046 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַר֮he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֣י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
יְהוִה֒Yahweh
yahwehH3069 →306 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
מְחַלֵּ֤ל[am] about to profane
mechalelH2490 →143 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מִקְדָּשִׁי֙sanctuary my
mikdashiH4720 →75 times
גְּא֣וֹן[the] pride of
geonH1347 →49 times
עֻזְּכֶ֔םstrength your
ʾuzekhemH5797 →92 times
מַחְמַ֥ד[the] desire of
machmadH4261 →13 times
עֵֽינֵיכֶ֖םeyes your
ʾeineikhemH5869 →887 times
וּמַחְמַ֣לand [the] love of
umachmalH4263 →
נַפְשְׁכֶ֑םbeing your
nafshekhemH5315 →754 times
וּבְנֵיכֶ֧םand sons your
uveneikhemH1121 →4930 times
וּבְנֽוֹתֵיכֶ֛םand daughters your
uvenoteikhemH1323 →588 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
עֲזַבְתֶּ֖םyou have left
ʾazavtemH5800 →215 times
בַּחֶ֥רֶבby the sword
bacherevH2719 →413 times
יִפֹּֽלוּ׃they will fall
yipoluH5307 →435 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 27:4One 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…
it leads to
- Psalms 26:8
O LORD, I love the house where You dwell, the place where Your glory resides.
- Psalms 23:6
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
- Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the one You choose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! We are filled with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.
- Psalms 84:4
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah
- Psalms 84:10
For better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
- Psalms 26:8
Through
Ezekiel 23:25And 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…
it leads to
- 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.
- Ezekiel 23:47
Through
Jeremiah 7:14therefore 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.
it leads to
- Psalms 78:60
He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
- 2 Kings 25:9
He burned down the house of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem—every significant building.
- Psalms 78:60
About Ezekiel
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.