Ezekiel 21

¹And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

²Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

³And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

⁶Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

⁷And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

⁸Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

¹¹And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry 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.

¹³Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord God.

¹⁴Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.

¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

¹⁶Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

¹⁷I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said it.

¹⁸The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,

¹⁹Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

²¹For 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.

²²At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

²³And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

²⁶Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

²⁹Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

³⁰Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

³¹And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

³²Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.

Ezekiel 21

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

²`Son of man, set thy face unto Jerusalem, and prophesy unto the holy places, and prophesy unto the ground of Israel;

³and thou hast said unto the ground of Israel: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am against thee, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off from thee righteous and wicked.

⁴Because that I have cut off from thee righteous and wicked, Therefore go out doth My sword from its scabbard, Unto all flesh, from south to north.

⁵And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It doth not turn back any more.

⁶And thou, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, yea, with bitterness thou dost sigh before their eyes,

⁷and it hath come to pass, when they say unto thee, For what art thou sighing? that thou hast said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And melted hath every heart, And feeble hath been all hands, And weak is every spirit, And all knees gowaters, Lo, it is coming, yea, it hath been, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

⁹`Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.

¹⁰So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising every tree.

¹¹And he giveth it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpenedthe swordand polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer.

¹²Cry and howl, son of man, For it hath been among My people, It is among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy thigh,

¹³Because it is a trier, And what if even the sceptre it is despising? It shall not be, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁴And thou, son of man, prophesy, And smite hand on hand, And bent is the sword a third time, The sword of the wounded! It is the sword of the woundedthe great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them.

¹⁵To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, By all their gates I have set the point of a sword. Ah, it is made for brightness, Wrapped up for slaughter.

¹⁶Take possession of the right, place thyself at the left, Whither thy face is appointed.

¹⁷And I also, I smite My hand on my hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, Jehovah, have spoken.'

¹⁸And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

¹⁹`And thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare it .

²⁰A way appoint for the coming of the sword, Unto Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in Jerusalemthe fenced.

²¹For 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.

²²At his right hath been the divinationJerusalem, To place battering-rams, To open the mouth with slaughter, To lift up a voice with shouting, To place battering-rams against the gates, To pour out a mount, to build a fortification.

²³And it hath been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, And he is causing iniquity to be remembered to be caught.

²⁴Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, By the hand ye are caught.

²⁵And thou, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end!

²⁶Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn aside the mitre, and bear away the crown, Thisnot thisthe low make high, And the high make low.

²⁷An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, Also this hath not been till the coming of Him, Whose is the judgment, and I have given it.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: and thou hast said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, Polished to the utmost for brightness!

²⁹In the seeing for thee of a vain thing, In the divining for thee of a lie, To put thee on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰Turn it back unto its scabbard, In the place where thou wast produced, In the land of thy birth I do judge thee.

³¹And I have poured on thee Mine indignation, With fire of My wrath I blow against thee, And have given thee into the hand of brutish menartificers of destruction.

³²To the fire thou art for fuel, Thy blood is in the midst of the land, Thou art not remembered, For I, Jehovah, have spoken!'