Ezekiel 21:16
New International Version
Slash to the right, you sword, then to the left, wherever your blade is turned.

New Living Translation
O sword, slash to the right, then slash to the left, wherever you will, wherever you want.

English Standard Version
Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.

Berean Standard Bible
Slash to the right; set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.

King James Bible
Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

New King James Version
“Swords at the ready! Thrust right! Set your blade! Thrust left— Wherever your edge is ordered!

New American Standard Bible
Prove yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is ordered.

NASB 1995
“Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.

NASB 1977
“Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.

Legacy Standard Bible
Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed.

Amplified Bible
Turn O sword and cut right or cut left, whichever way your thirst for blood and your edge direct you.

Christian Standard Bible
Slash to the right; turn to the left — wherever your blade is directed.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Slash to the right; turn to the left— wherever your blade is directed.

American Standard Version
Gather thee together, go to the right, set thyself in array, go to the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

Contemporary English Version
It will slash right and left, wherever the blade is pointed.

English Revised Version
Gather thee together, go to the right; set thyself in array, go to the left; whithersoever thy face is set.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Sword, cut to the right. Cut to the left or wherever your blade is turned.

Good News Translation
Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn.

International Standard Version
Be sharp! Attack on the right, or parry to your left, wherever you point your sword.

Majority Standard Bible
Slash to the right; set your blade to the left?wherever your blade is directed.

NET Bible
Cut sharply on the right! Swing to the left, wherever your edge is appointed to strike.

New Heart English Bible
'Gather yourselves together, go to the right, set yourselves in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.'

Webster's Bible Translation
Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

World English Bible
Gather yourselves together. Go to the right. Set yourselves in array. Go to the left, wherever your face is set.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Take possession of the right, place yourself at the left, "" To where your face is appointed.

Young's Literal Translation
Take possession of the right, place thyself at the left, Whither thy face is appointed.

Smith's Literal Translation
Unite thyself to the right, set thyself to the left, where thy face wavers.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Be thou sharpened, go to the right hand, or to the left, which way soever thou hast a mind to set thy face.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.

New American Bible
Slash to the right! turn to the left, Wherever your edge is directed!

New Revised Standard Version
Attack to the right! Engage to the left! —wherever your edge is directed.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Take hold firmly my right hand, take hold firmly my left hand, wherever my face is turned;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Grasp firmly my right hand and grasp firmly my left hand, to the place that my face is prepared
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Go thee one way to the right, or direct thyself to the left; whither is thy face set?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And do thou go on, sharpen thyself on the right and on the left whithersoever thy face may set itself.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The LORD's Sword of Judgment
15So that their hearts may melt and many may stumble, I have appointed at all their gates a sword for slaughter. Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning; it is drawn for slaughter. 16Slash to the right; set your blade to the left— wherever your blade is directed. 17I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”…

Cross References
Isaiah 34:5-6
When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens, then it will come down upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. / The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood. It drips with fat—with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Jeremiah 47:6-7
‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’ / How can it rest when the LORD has commanded it? He has appointed it against Ashkelon and the shore of its coastland.”

Deuteronomy 32:41-42
when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me. / I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh—the blood of the slain and captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

Isaiah 66:16
For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.

Jeremiah 12:12
Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the earth to the other. No flesh has peace.

Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

Jeremiah 25:31
The tumult will resound to the ends of the earth because the LORD brings a charge against the nations. He brings judgment on all mankind and puts the wicked to the sword,’” declares the LORD.

Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.

Revelation 1:16
He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.

Jeremiah 50:35-37
A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men. / A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. / A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.

Isaiah 31:8
“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals. They will flee before the sword, and their young men will be put to forced labor.

Revelation 2:16
Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.

Zechariah 13:7
Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, against the man who is My Companion, declares the LORD of Hosts. Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn My hand against the little ones.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Isaiah 49:2
He made My mouth like a sharp sword; He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me like a polished arrow; He hid Me in His quiver.


Treasury of Scripture

Go you one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, wherever your face is set.

Go

Ezekiel 21:4,20
Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: …

Ezekiel 14:17
Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:

Ezekiel 16:46
And thine elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

either

Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

or on the left.

Jump to Previous
Appointed Array Blade Cut Direct Directed Edge Either Face Gather Hand Ordered Pointed Possession Right Sharp Sharply Show Sword Thyself Together Turn Way Wherever Whither Whithersoever
Jump to Next
Appointed Array Blade Cut Direct Directed Edge Either Face Gather Hand Ordered Pointed Possession Right Sharp Sharply Show Sword Thyself Together Turn Way Wherever Whither Whithersoever
Ezekiel 21
1. Ezekiel prophesies against Jerusalem with a sign of sighing
8. The sharp and bright sword
18. against Jerusalem
25. against the kingdom
28. and against the Ammonites














Slash to the right
This phrase signifies the comprehensive and indiscriminate nature of God's judgment. The Hebrew root word for "slash" is "הַכֵּה" (hakkêh), which means to strike or smite. Historically, this reflects the Babylonian army's sweeping conquest, as they were instruments of divine judgment. The right side often symbolizes strength and favor, yet here it is subject to the sword, indicating that no one is exempt from God's righteous judgment.

set your blade to the left
The left side, traditionally seen as weaker or less favorable, is also not spared. The Hebrew word for "blade" is "פָּנִים" (pānîm), which can also mean face or presence, suggesting the sword's pervasive presence. This phrase emphasizes the totality of the impending judgment, where both the strong and the weak, the favored and the unfavored, are equally vulnerable to divine retribution.

wherever your blade is directed
This part of the verse underscores the sovereignty and precision of God's judgment. The Hebrew word for "directed" is "מוּעָד" (mû‘ād), meaning appointed or destined. It implies that the sword's path is not random but divinely ordained. This reflects the biblical theme that God's judgments are purposeful and just, serving His greater plan for righteousness and restoration.

(16) Go thee one way or other.--An address to the sword, the animation of which is singularly lost in our version; the sword is addressed as a host, to be prepared for instant action in every quarter: "Gather thyself up (close up ranks) right; set thyself, left."

Verse 16. - Go thee one way or another, etc.; i.e. as in the following, to the right hand or the left - to the north or the south. Whichever way the prophet turned (Ezekiel 20:47), he would see nothing but the sword and its work of slaughter. Jehovah had given that command with the gesture of supreme authority. He would not rest till he had appeased his wrath by letting it work itself out even to the end. With these words the "Lay of the Sword of Jehovah" ends, and there is again an interval of silence.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Slash
הִתְאַחֲדִ֥י (hiṯ·’a·ḥă·ḏî)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 258: Go one way or other

to the right;
הֵימִ֖נִי (hê·mi·nî)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 3231: To go to or choose the right, to use the right hand

set your blade
הָשִׂ֣ימִי (hā·śî·mî)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

to the left—
הַשְׂמִ֑ילִי (haś·mî·lî)
Verb - Hifil - Imperative - feminine singular
Strong's 8041: To use the left hand, pass in that direction)

wherever
אָ֖נָה (’ā·nāh)
Interrogative
Strong's 575: Where?, whither?, when?, hither and thither

your blade
פָּנַ֥יִךְ (pā·na·yiḵ)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 6440: The face

is directed.
מֻעָדֽוֹת׃ (mu·‘ā·ḏō·wṯ)
Verb - Hofal - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 3259: To fix upon, to meet, to summon, to direct, to engage


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 21:16 Gather you together go to the right (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 21:15
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