Ezekiel 21:12
Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh. Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
The verse commands the prophet to cry and howl because the terror of the sword is coming upon God's people and upon all the princes of Israel. That judgment is directed against Jerusalem, and its coming is cause for deep grief and mourning.
Smiting upon the thigh is a token of shame and remorse. The trouble belongs to the steps that led Israel into exile, for the people's transgressions brought trouble upon them. Idolatry joined with Sabbath desecration brought their calamities and dispersion.
The verse points to the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and to a change in human dominion. Its cry of terror by reason of the sword marks an overturning. That overturning is followed by three more overturnings by Medo-Persia, by Grecia, and by Rome, after which Christ comes and the kingdom is His.