Ezekiel 21

¹Then came the word of Jehovah to 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 Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

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

⁵And all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.

⁶Thou, therefore, O son of man, sigh! With the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness, sigh before their eyes!

⁷And when they shall say to thee, "Wherefore sighest thou?" thou shalt say, "For the rumor, because it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall fail, and all knees shall flow with water. Behold it cometh, it shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Jehovah."

⁸Also the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, The sword, the sword is sharpened and furbished.

¹⁰It is sharpened, that it may make sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter. Or shall we make mirth? The staff of my son despiseth every rod.

¹¹And he gave it to be furbished that it might be handled. The sword is sharpened and furbished, to be given into the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry and howl, son of man! for it cometh upon my people, upon all the princes of Israel. They are given up to the sword with my people. Therefore smite upon thy thigh.

¹³The trial is made. And what if even the contemning staff should be no more? saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁴Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together! for twice, yea thrice, cometh the sword, a sword of slaughter, a sword of great slaughter, that besetteth them on every side.

¹⁵That their hearts may faint, and their overthrown may be multiplied, I have set the terror of the sword against all their gates. Ah, how is it made to glitter, polished for slaughter!

¹⁶Unite thyself, smite to the right, prepare thyself, smite to the left, whithersoever thine edge is turned!

¹⁷I also will smite my hands together, and cause mine anger to cease. I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

¹⁸The word of Jehovah came to me again, saying:

¹⁹Do thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come; from one land shall both of them come; and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰Appoint a way, that the sword may come towards Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and towards Judah, to Jerusalem, the fenced city.

²¹For the king of Babylon shall stand at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shall shake together his arrows, he shall consult the teraphim, he shall look at the liver.

²²In his right hand shall be the lot: Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to open the mouth with the war-cry, to lift up the voice in shouting, to set battering-rams against the gates, to cast up a mound, to build a tower.

²³And this shall appear a false divination in their sight, because they swore oaths to them. But he shall call to remembrance their iniquity, that they may be taken.

²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye make your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear,—because, I say, ye bring yourselves into remembrance, ye shall be taken with that hand.

²⁵And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day cometh in the time when iniquity bringeth destruction!

²⁶Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will remove the diadem, and take away the crown! This shall no more be this. I exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

²⁷I will destroy, destroy, destroy it; and it shall be no more until he come to whom the right belongeth, and to whom I will give it.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon and their scorn; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn; to slay, to consume, is it furbished, so that it glittereth;

²⁹while they see deceit for thee, and prophesy falsehood, that it may bring thee to the necks of the wicked that are slain, whose day cometh in the time when iniquity bringeth destruction.

³⁰Return the sword into its sheath! In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity, I will judge thee,

³¹and I will pour upon thee my indignation, I will blow upon thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hands of brutal men, skilful to destroy.

³²Thou shalt be fuel for the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; men shall no more remember thee. I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

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.