Ezekiel 21

1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

3 and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

4 Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

5 Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

6 But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief.

7 And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

9 “Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—

10 it is sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? The sword despises every such stick.

11 The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished, to be placed in the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry out and wail, O son of man, for the sword is wielded against My people; it is against all the princes of Israel! They are tossed to the sword with My people; therefore strike your thigh.

13 Surely testing will come! And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue?’ declares the Lord GOD.

14 ‘So then, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword strike two times, even three. It is a sword that slays, a sword of great slaughter closing in on every side!

15 So that their hearts may melt and many may stumble, I have appointed at all their gates a sword for slaughter. Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning; it is drawn for slaughter.

16 Slash to the right; set your blade to the left—wherever your blade is directed.

17 I too will strike My hands together, and I will satisfy My wrath.’ I, the LORD, have spoken.”

18 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

19 “Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.

20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

22 In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

23 It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

24 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds—because you have come to remembrance—you shall be taken in hand.

25 And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’

26 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.

27 A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be restored until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs, to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’

28 Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt: ‘A sword! A sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning—

29 while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.

30 Return the sword to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

31 I will pour out My anger upon you; I will breathe the fire of My fury against you; I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled in destruction.

32 You will be fuel for the fire. Your blood will stain your own land. You will not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.’”

1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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

3 And 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.

4 Seeing 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:

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

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

7 And 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.

8 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

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

10 It 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.

11 And 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.

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.

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

14 Thou 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.

15 I 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.

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

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

18 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

19 Also, 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.

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

21 For 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.

22 At 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.

23 And 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.

24 Therefore 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.

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

26 Thus 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.

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

28 ¶ And 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:

29 Whiles 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.

30 Shall 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.

31 And 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.

32 Thou 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].

2 Son of man, set thy face against Jerusalem, and prophesy against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel.

3 And say unto the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD GOD; Behold, I am against thee; I will unsheathe my sword, and will cut off from thee both the righteous and the unrighteous.

4 Because I have cut off in thee both the righteous and the unrighteous, my sword shall come forth out of the sheath upon all flesh from the south even unto the north.

5 And all flesh shall know that I the LORD have drawn my sword out of the sheath thereof; and it shall not be put in again.

6 And thou, son of man, shalt groan until thy loins be sore: yea, thou shalt groan bitterly, that they may see it.

7 And when they shall say unto thee: Wherefore sighest thou? thou shalt say, Because of the cry which is coming, before which all hearts shall despair, and all hands shall fall, and all courage shall fail, and all knees shall go down like water. Behold, it cometh, and it shall come to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

8 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, The sword, yea, the sword is sharpened and swept.

10 It is sharpened, that it may slay; it is swept, that it may blink. O how glad we would be, if he had made all the trees rods over the wicked children!

11 But he hath given a sword to sweep, to take hold of: it is sharpened and swept, that it may be put into the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry and howl, thou son of man: for it is upon my people, and upon all the rulers of Israel, which are gathered to the sword with my people. Therefore smite upon thy loins:

13 For he hath often chastened them: what profit is it? The rod of the wicked child is of no avail, saith the Lord GOD.

14 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together. For the sword shall come twofold, yea, threefold, a choking sword, a sword of great slaughter, which shall also smite them in the chambers where they flee.

15 I will sound the sword, and the hearts shall be troubled, and many shall fall at all their gates. Oh, how it shines, and how it is hammered to the battle!

16 And say: Thrust in, both on the right hand and on the left, that which is before thee.

17 Then will I rejoice with my hands, and let go my wrath. I, the LORD, have said it.

18 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

19 Son of man, make two ways by which the sword of the king of Babylon shall come; and they shall both come out of one land.

20 And put a sign in the front of the way to the city, whither it shall point: and make the way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Judah, unto the strong city Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon shall stand by the way side, in the front of the two ways, to prophesy, to shoot arrows at the lot, to inquire of his idol, and to look upon the liver.

22 And the prophecy shall point to the right side to Jerusalem, that he should bring in goats, and make holes, and attack them with a great cry, and slay them; and that he should bring in goats against the gates, and make a wall there, and build a stronghold.

23 But they shall think such divination false, that he may swear as much as he pleaseth. But he shall think of iniquity, that he may gain it.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are remembered for your iniquity, and your rebellion is made manifest, and your sin is seen in all your doings; yea, because ye are remembered, ye shall be taken with violence.

25 And thou, O ruler of Israel, who art condemned and condemned, when the day cometh, when iniquity is ended,

26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Take off thy hat, and lift up thy crown. For neither the hat nor the crown shall remain: but he that is exalted shall be humbled, and he that is brought low shall be exalted.

27 I will bring the crown to nought, to nought, to nought, until he come that shall have it: to him will I give it.

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD GOD concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say, The sword, the sword is drawn, that it may slay; it is swept, that it may choke, and it shall flash,

29 Because thou hast caused false visions to be told thee, and hast prophesied lies, that thou also mightest be delivered up among the slain of the wicked, to whom their day came, when iniquity was at an end.

30 Though it be put again into the sheath, yet will I judge thee in the place wherein thou wast made, and in the land wherein thou wast born.

31 And I will pour out my wrath upon thee, and I will puff up the fire of my fury upon thee, and I will deliver thee unto men that can burn and destroy.

32 Thou shalt be food for the fire, and thy blood shall be shed in the land; and thou shalt be remembered no more. For I the LORD have spoken it.

45 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south wind, and prophesy toward the south, and prophesy against the wood of the field toward the south.

47 And say unto the wood toward the south, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour both green and dry trees; and the flame thereof shall not be quenched, but all that standeth from the south toward the north shall be burned up.

48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it, and that none shall quench it.

49 And I said, O Lord GOD, they say of me, This man speaketh vain words. Ch. 21. v. 1. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: