Verses 30-32 speak of God’s judgment on the sword, which is a symbol for Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. The second person pronouns you and your refer to them. These verses refer to the time when God will punish them for what they did to Jerusalem. It is best not to make the reference to the Babylonians explicit in translation, although this may be done in a footnote. If necessary, a heading such as “The Babylonians will be destroyed” may be placed before verse 30.

Return it to its sheath: This is a command to the owner of the sword to put it back into its holder. The owner is not identified, and translations should reflect the general nature of this command. New Century Version says “Put the sword back in its holder.” For sheath see Ezek 21.3. There is no justification for King James Version to make this clause a question.

In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you: God will punish Nebuchadnezzar and his people in their homeland. The place where you were created may mean “the place where you were born” (Revised English Bible), but more likely it refers to the way God chose Nebuchadnezzar to be the agent of his judgment on Jerusalem, so it may be rendered “the place where I chose you.” The judgment will take place in the land of your origin, that is, Nebuchadnezzar will die in his home country, Babylonia. I will judge you may be rendered “I will punish you.” In some languages it may be necessary to move this clause to the beginning of the sentence, as in “I will punish you in the place where I created you, in the land where you are from.”

See the discussion on verse 32 for a model of this whole verse.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .