Jezekiel 21

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

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Therefore prophesy, son of man, set your face steadfastly towards Jerusalem, and look towards their holy places, and you shall prophesy against the land of Israel,

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

3 and you shall say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I am against you, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of you the transgressor and unrighteous.

and 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.

4 Because I will destroy out of you the unrighteous and the transgressor, [therefore] so shall my sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

Seeing that I will 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;

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

and all flesh shall know that I Jehovah have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.

6 And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins; you shall even groan heavily in their sight.

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

7 And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to you, Therefore do you groan? that you shall say, For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, says the Lord.

And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore dost thou sigh? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall languish, and all knees shall melt into water: behold, it cometh; it is here, saith the Lord Jehovah.

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

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

9 Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord; Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage,

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

10 that you may kill victims; be sharpened that you may be bright, ready for slaughter, kill, set at nothing, despise every tree.

It is sharpened for sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter. Shall we then make mirth, [saying, ] The sceptre of my son contemneth all wood?

11 And he made it ready for his hand to hold: the sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer.

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

12 Cry out and howl, son of man: for this [sword] is come upon my people, this [sword is come] upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: [judgement] with the sword is come upon my people: therefore clap your hands, for sentence has been passed:

Cry and howl, son of man; for it shall be against my people, it shall be against all the princes of Israel: they are given up to the sword along with my people: smite therefore upon the thigh.

13 and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, says the Lord God.

For the trial [is made]; and what if even the contemning sceptre shall be no [more]? saith the Lord Jehovah.

14 And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is [the sword] of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and you shall strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint

And thou, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; for [the strokes of] the sword shall be doubled the third time: it is the sword of the slain, the sword that hath slain the great one, which encompasseth them privily.

15 and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate—they are given up to the slaughter of the sword: it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering.

In order that the heart may melt, and the stumbling-blocks be multiplied, I have set the threatening sword against all their gates: ah! it is made glittering, it is whetted for the slaughter.

16 And do you go on, sharpen yourself on the right and on the left wherever your face may set itself.

Gather up [strength], go to the right hand, turn thee, go to the left, whithersoever thy face is appointed.

17 And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken [it].

And I myself will smite my hands together, and I will satisfy my fury: I Jehovah have spoken [it].

18 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

19 and you, son of man, appoint you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and [there shall be] a force at the top of the way of the city, you shall set [it] at the top of the way,

And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come — out of one land shall they both come — and make thee a signpost, make it at the head of the way to the city.

20 that the sword may enter in upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and upon Judea, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof.

Appoint a way for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah at the fenced [city] of Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine [the victims].

For the king of Babylon standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh [his] arrows, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.

22 On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts.

In his right hand is the lot of Jerusalem to appoint battering-rams, to open the mouth for bloodshed, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering-rams against the gates, to cast mounds, to build siege-towers.

23 And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.

And this shall be a false divination in their sight, for them that have sworn oaths; but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord, Because you have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your [evil] practices; because you have caused remembrance [of them], in these shall you be taken.

Therefore 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 appear; because ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25 And you profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, [even] an end, is come in a sea of iniquity, thus says the Lord;

And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, at the time of the iniquity of the end,

26 You have taken off the mitre and put on the crown, it shall not have such [another] after it: you have abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low.

— thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Remove the mitre and take off the crown; what is shall be no [more]. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.

27 Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it: woe to it: such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver [it] to him.

I will overturn, overturn, overturn it! This also shall be no [more], until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [to him].

28 And you, son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and you shall say, O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that you may gleam.

And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus speaketh the Lord Jehovah concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, A sword, a sword is drawn; for the slaughter is it furbished, that it may consume, that it may glitter:

29 While you are seeing vain [visions], and while you are prophesying falsehoods, to bring yourself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day is come, [even] an end, in a season of iniquity.

whilst they see vanity for thee, whilst they divine a lie unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are slain, whose day is come at the time of the iniquity of the end.

30 Turn, rest not in this place wherein you were born: in your own land will I judge you.

Restore [it] to its sheath. I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy birth.

31 And I will pour out my wrath upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction.

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

32 You shall be fuel for fire; your blood shall be in the midst of your land; there shall be no remembrance at all of you: for I the Lord have spoken [it].

Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt not be remembered: for I Jehovah have spoken.