Ezekiel 12:20

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’””

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Ezekiel 12:20 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’””

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“And the cities that are inhabited are laid waste, and the land is a desolation, and ye have known that I <FI>am<Fi> Jehovah.'”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Ezekiel 12:20 — 19 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Leviticus 26:31I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.
  2. Leviticus 26:33But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
  3. Isaiah 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
  4. Isaiah 7:23And on that day, in every place that had a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels of silver, only briers and thorns will be found.
  5. Isaiah 24:3The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.
  6. Isaiah 24:12The city is left in ruins; its gate is reduced to rubble.
  7. Isaiah 64:10Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation.
  8. Jeremiah 4:7A lion has gone up from his thicket, and a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to lay waste your land. Your cities will be reduced to ruins and lie uninhabited.
  9. Jeremiah 4:23I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
  10. Jeremiah 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
  11. Jeremiah 16:9For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to remove from this place, before your very eyes and in your days, the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom.
  12. Jeremiah 19:11and you are to proclaim to them that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I will shatter this nation and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room to bury them.
  13. Jeremiah 24:8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.
  14. Jeremiah 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
  15. Jeremiah 34:22Behold, I am going to give the command, declares the LORD, and I will bring them back to this city. They will fight against it, capture it, and burn it down. And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
  16. Lamentations 5:18because of Mount Zion, which lies desolate, patrolled by foxes.
  17. Ezekiel 15:6Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the people of Jerusalem.
  18. Ezekiel 15:8Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
  19. Daniel 9:17So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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