Ezekiel 21

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

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

3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus says Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee. And will draw forth my sword out of its 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 my sword shall go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.

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

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

7 And it shall be, when they say to thee, Why do thou sigh? That thou shall say, Because of the news. For it comes, 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 comes, and it shall be done, says the lord Jehovah.

8 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword. It is sharpened, and also furbished.

10 It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Shall we then make mirth? It scorns the scepter of my son, every tree.

11 And it is given to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry and wail, son of man, for it is upon my people. It is upon all the rulers of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Smite therefore upon thy thigh.

13 For there is a trial, and what if even the rod that scorns shall be no more? says the lord Jehovah.

14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together. And let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded. It is the sword of the great man who is deadly wounded, which enters into their chambers.

15 I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made as lightning. It is pointed for slaughter.

16 Gather thee together. Go to the right. Set thyself in array. Go to the left, wherever thy face is set.

17 I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest. I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

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

19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. Those two shall come forth out of one land. And mark out a place. Mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

20 Thou shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.

21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shook the arrows to and fro. He consulted the teraphim. He looked in the liver.

22 In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.

23 And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them. But he brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.

24 Therefore thus says the lord Jehovah: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear, because ye have come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25 And thou, O deadly wounded wicked man, the ruler of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

26 thus says the lord Jehovah: Remove the miter, and take off the crown. This shall be no more the same. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is. And I will give it.

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach. And say thou, A sword, a sword is drawn. It is polished for the slaughter, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning,

29 while they see for thee false visions, while they divine lies to thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end.

30 Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where thou were created, in the land of thy birth, I will judge thee.

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

32 Thou shall be for fuel to the fire. Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land. Thou shall no more be remembered. For I, Jehovah, have spoken it.