Jezekiel 21
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Then the word of the LORD 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 toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, 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 the LORD: 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 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 then 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 the LORD 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 therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou 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 sighest thou? that thou shalt say: Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be slack, and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip with water; behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.'
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the LORD 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 the LORD: Say: A sword, a sword, it 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 that it may make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter — or shall we make mirth? — against the rod of My son, contemning every tree.
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 it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled; the sword, it is sharpened, yea, 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 wail, son of man; for it is upon My people, it is upon all the princes of Israel; they are thrust down to the sword with My people; smite therefore upon thy thigh.
13 and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, says the Lord God.
For there is a trial; and what if it contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
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
Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of those to be slain; it is the sword of the great one that is to be slain, which compasseth them about.
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.
I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied; ah! it is made glittering, it is sharpened for slaughter.
16 And do you go on, sharpen yourself on the right and on the left wherever your face may set itself.
Go thee one way to the right, or direct thyself to the left; whither is thy face set?
17 And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken [it].
I will also smite My hands together, and I will satisfy My fury; I the LORD have spoken it.'
18 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the LORD 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,
'Now, thou son of man, make thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land; and mark a signpost, mark it clear 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.
Thou shalt make a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
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 the arrows to and fro, 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 Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth for 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 he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.
And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, who have weeks upon weeks! but it bringeth iniquity to remembrance, 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 GOD: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that your sins do appear in all your doings; because that 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, O wicked one, that art to be slain, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in 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 GOD: The mitre shall be removed, and the crown taken off; this shall be no more the same: that which is low shall be exalted, and that which is high abased.
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.
A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, will I make it; this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it 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 saith the Lord GOD concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their taunt; and say thou: O sword, O sword keen-edged, furbished for the slaughter, to the uttermost, because of the glitterings;
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.
While they see falsehood unto thee, while they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are to be slain, whose day is come, in 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.
Cause it to return into its sheath! — In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thine origin, will I judge thee.
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 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 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 be no more remembered; for I the LORD have spoken it.'
