Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver. New Living Translation The king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices. English Standard Version For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. Berean Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. King James Bible For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. New King James Version For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. New American Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. NASB 1995 “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. NASB 1977 “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. Legacy Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows; he asks the household idols; he looks at the liver. Amplified Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim (household idols), he looks at the liver [of an animal for an omen]. Christian Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the split in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, consults the idols, and observes the liver. Holman Christian Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the split in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, consults the idols, and observes the liver. American Standard Version For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. Contemporary English Version When the Babylonian king stands at that signpost, he will decide which way to go by shaking his arrows, by asking his idols, and by carefully looking at the liver of a sacrificed animal. English Revised Version For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. GOD'S WORD® Translation The king of Babylon will stop where the roads branch off, where there is a fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. He will shake some arrows, ask his household gods for help, and examine animal livers. Good News Translation The king of Babylonia stands by the signpost at the fork of the road. To discover which way to go, he shakes the arrows; he consults his idols; he examines the liver of a sacrificed animal. International Standard Version "Meanwhile, Babylon's king is standing at the fork of the road, where he can head in either of two directions, and that's where he is practicing divination. Shaking his arrows, he's asking questions of his teraphim while he examines livers. Majority Standard Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. NET Bible For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: He shakes arrows, he consults idols, he examines animal livers. New Heart English Bible For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver. Webster's Bible Translation For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. World English Bible For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shook the arrows back and forth. He consulted the teraphim. He looked in the liver. Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionFor the king of Babylon has stood at the head of the way, "" At the top of the two ways, to use divination, "" He has moved lightly with the arrows, "" He has inquired of the teraphim, "" He has looked on the liver. Young's Literal Translation For stood hath the king of Babylon at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He hath moved lightly with the arrows, He hath asked at the teraphim, He hath looked on the liver. Smith's Literal Translation For the king of Babel stood at the mother of the way in the head of the two ways, to divine a divination; he shook with the arrows, he asked in the family gods, he looked in the liver. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleFor the king of Babylon stood in the highway, at the head of two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows: he inquired of the idols, and consulted entrails. Catholic Public Domain Version For the king of Babylon stood at the fork, at the head of the two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows; he inquired of idols, and he consulted entrails. New American Bible For the king of Babylon is standing at the fork of the two roads to read the omens: he shakes out the arrows, inquires of the teraphim, inspects the liver. New Revised Standard Version For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the fork in the two roads, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim, he inspects the liver. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleFor the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shoots an arrow, he inquires of his idol, he sees his triumph. Peshitta Holy Bible Translated Because the King of Babel stands at the beginning of the road that divides the roads. To divine an oracle, he shoots an arrow and he inquires of the idol. He looks at his glory OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shaketh the arrows to and fro, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver. Brenton Septuagint Translation For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine the victims. Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context The LORD's Sword of Judgment…20Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. 22In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.… Cross References Isaiah 44:25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense, Jeremiah 27:9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your interpreters of dreams, your mediums, or your sorcerers who declare, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ Jeremiah 50:35-38 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. ... 2 Kings 21:6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, practices divination or conjury, interprets omens, practices sorcery, / casts spells, consults a medium or spiritist, or inquires of the dead. / For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD. And because of these detestable things, the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you. 1 Samuel 28:8 So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I name.” 2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger. Daniel 2:27-28 Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires. / But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these: Acts 16:16-18 One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling. / This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” / She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And the spirit left her at that very moment. Isaiah 47:12-13 So take your stand with your spells and with your many sorceries, with which you have wearied yourself from your youth. Perhaps you will succeed; perhaps you will inspire terror! / You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate. Leviticus 19:26 You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery. Numbers 23:23 For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’ 1 Kings 22:6-12 So the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I refrain?” “Go up,” they replied, “and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.” / But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here of whom we can inquire?” / The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied. ... Matthew 2:1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, / asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” Acts 8:9-11 Prior to that time, a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and astounded the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great, / and all the people, from the least to the greatest, heeded his words and said, “This man is the divine power called the Great Power.” / They paid close attention to him because he had astounded them for a long time with his sorcery. Treasury of Scripture For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. the king Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. parting [heb] mother Numbers 23:28 And Balak brought Balaam unto the top of Peor, that looketh toward Jeshimon. Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. he made. arrows. Genesis 31:19,30 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's… Judges 17:5 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. Judges 13:14,18,20,24 She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe… Jump to Previous Arrows Arts Babylon Beasts Bright Cast Consult Consulted Consults Dead Divination Examine Fork Forth Fro Gods Head Household Idols Images Inner Inquireth Liver Note Omen Parting Parts Questions Road Roads Secret Seek Shakes Shaketh Shaking Shook Standeth Stands Stood Stop Teraphim Top Use Way WaysJump to Next Arrows Arts Babylon Beasts Bright Cast Consult Consulted Consults Dead Divination Examine Fork Forth Fro Gods Head Household Idols Images Inner Inquireth Liver Note Omen Parting Parts Questions Road Roads Secret Seek Shakes Shaketh Shaking Shook Standeth Stands Stood Stop Teraphim Top Use Way WaysEzekiel 21 1. Ezekiel prophesies against Jerusalem with a sign of sighing8. The sharp and bright sword 18. against Jerusalem 25. against the kingdom 28. and against the Ammonites For the king of Babylon This phrase refers to Nebuchadnezzar II, the powerful ruler of the Babylonian Empire during the time of Ezekiel. Historically, Nebuchadnezzar is known for his military conquests and the expansion of his empire. In the context of Ezekiel, he is an instrument of God's judgment against Jerusalem. The mention of the "king of Babylon" sets the stage for understanding the geopolitical and spiritual dynamics at play, as God uses even pagan rulers to fulfill His divine purposes. will stop at the fork in the road at the junction of the two roads to seek an omen He will cast lots with arrows he will consult his idols he will examine the liver Made his arrows bright.--Rather, shook his arrows. This was a mode of divination in use among the ancient Arabs, as well as in Mesopotamia, and something very similar is mentioned by Homer as practised among the ancient Greeks (II., iii. 316). It continued to be used among the Arabs until the time of Mohammed, who strictly torbade it in the Koran (3:39, 5:4, 94). Several arrows, properly marked, were shaken together in a quiver or other vessel, and one drawn out. The mark upon the one drawn was supposed to indicate the will of the gods. It was thus simply one form of casting lots. Consulted with images.--The particular images here mentioned were "teraphim," small idols, which are often spoken of in Scripture as used in divination by the Israelites themselves, and common also among the heathen. (See 1Samuel 15:23, where the word "idolatry" is in the original "teraphim.") Nothing is known of the way in which these were used in divination. Looked in the liver.--The inspection of the entrails of sacrificial victims, and especially of the liver, as a means of ascertaining the will of the gods, is familiar to every reader of classical literature. There is evidence that the same custom prevailed also in Babylonia. The king is represented as employing all these different kinds of divination to make sure of the proper path. Hebrew Forכִּֽי־ (kî-) Conjunction Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction the king מֶלֶךְ־ (me·leḵ-) Noun - masculine singular construct Strong's 4428: A king of Babylon בָּבֶ֜ל (bā·ḇel) Noun - proper - feminine singular Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city stands עָמַ֨ד (‘ā·maḏ) Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 5975: To stand, in various relations at אֶל־ (’el-) Preposition Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to the fork אֵ֣ם (’êm) Noun - feminine singular construct Strong's 517: A mother, ) in the road, הַדֶּ֗רֶךְ (had·de·reḵ) Article | Noun - common singular Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action at the junction בְּרֹ֛אשׁ (bə·rōš) Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct Strong's 7218: The head of the two שְׁנֵ֥י (šə·nê) Number - mdc Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number) roads, הַדְּרָכִ֖ים (had·də·rā·ḵîm) Article | Noun - common plural Strong's 1870: A road, a course of life, mode of action to seek לִקְסָם־ (liq·sām-) Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct Strong's 7080: To distribute, determine by lot, magical scroll, to divine an omen: קָ֑סֶם (qā·sem) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 7081: A lot, divination, oracle He shakes קִלְקַ֤ל (qil·qal) Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 7043: To be slight, swift or trifling the arrows, בַּֽחִצִּים֙ (ba·ḥiṣ·ṣîm) Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural Strong's 2671: A piercer, an arrow, a wound, thunderbolt, the shaft of a, spear he consults שָׁאַ֣ל (šā·’al) Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 7592: To inquire, to request, to demand the idols, בַּתְּרָפִ֔ים (bat·tə·rā·p̄îm) Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural Strong's 8655: (a kind of idol) perhaps household idol he examines רָאָ֖ה (rā·’āh) Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular Strong's 7200: To see the liver. בַּכָּבֵֽד׃ (bak·kā·ḇêḏ) Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine singular Strong's 3516: The liver Links Ezekiel 21:21 NIVEzekiel 21:21 NLT Ezekiel 21:21 ESV Ezekiel 21:21 NASB Ezekiel 21:21 KJV Ezekiel 21:21 BibleApps.com Ezekiel 21:21 Biblia Paralela Ezekiel 21:21 Chinese Bible Ezekiel 21:21 French Bible Ezekiel 21:21 Catholic Bible OT Prophets: Ezekiel 21:21 For the king of Babylon stood at (Ezek. Eze Ezk) |
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