Ezekiel 21:15

I haue set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruines be multiplied. Ah, it is made bright, it is wrapt vp for the slaughter. Ezekiel 21:15 (KJV)

their ruins be multiplied: ah!

it is made bright,

it is wrapped up for the slaughter. Ezekiel 21:15 (KJV)

Ezekiel was a prophet who lived during the Babylonian exile. He was taken captive to Babylon along with many of his fellow Israelites, and it was there that God gave him the visions recorded in this book. In the twenty‑first chapter he pronounces judgment against Jerusalem, foretelling its imminent destruction by the Babylonian army.

In this verse the sword functions as a vivid symbol of divine judgment and the overwhelming power of the Babylonian forces. The “point of the sword” set against “all their gates” signifies that the city’s defenses will be pierced; the gates, representing Jerusalem’s strength and security, will be overrun. The sword therefore stands for the instrument through which God will execute His punitive will.

The purpose of God’s judgment is described in two linked effects. First, the sword is intended “that their heart may faint,” a phrase that conveys the crushing fear and despair that will seize the inhabitants and even the heart of the king of Babylon, as the verse in the third draft puts it. Second, the judgment will “multiply their ruins,” indicating that the devastation will be extensive and total, leaving the city in utter desolation.

Throughout Ezekiel, God repeatedly warned Judah of the consequences of idolatry and rebellion. The people ignored these warnings, and consequently God allowed the Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem. The ensuing exile served as a means of purging the nation of its wickedness, providing a painful but necessary correction that would ultimately lead the people back to covenant fidelity.