Ezekiel 21

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

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

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the soil of Israel.

Son of man, let your face be turned to Jerusalem, let your words be dropped in the direction of her holy place, and be a prophet against the land of Israel;

3 And you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I will cast my sword from its sheath, and I will slay the just and the impious among you.

And say to the land of Israel, These are the words of the Lord: See, I am against you, and I will take my sword out of its cover, cutting off from you the upright and the evil.

4 But in as much as I have slain among you the just and the impious, for this reason my sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.

Because I am going to have the upright and the evil cut off from you, for this cause my sword will go out from its cover against all flesh from the south to the north:

5 So may all flesh know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath irrevocably.

And all flesh will see that I the Lord have taken my sword out of its cover: and it will never go back.

6 And as for you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.

Make sounds of grief, son of man; with body bent and a bitter heart make sounds of grief before their eyes.

7 And when they will say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say: ‘On behalf of the report, for it is approaching. And every heart will waste away, and every hand will be broken, and every spirit will be weakened, and water will flow across every knee.’ Behold, it is approaching and it will happen, says the Lord God.”

And when they say to you, Why are you making sounds of grief? then say, Because of the news, for it is coming: and every heart will become soft, and all hands will be feeble, and every spirit will be burning low, and all knees will be turned to water: see, it is coming and it will be done, says the Lord.

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

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

9 “Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Speak: The sword! The sword has been sharpened and polished!

Son of man, say as a prophet, These are the words of the Lord: Say, A sword, a sword which has been made sharp and polished:

10 It has been sharpened, so that it may cut down victims! It has been polished, so that it may shine! You are disturbing the scepter of my son. You have cut down every tree.

It has been made sharp to give death; it is polished so that it may be like a thunder-flame: ...

11 And I have sent it to be made smooth, so that it may be handled. This sword has been sharpened, and it has been polished, so that it may be in the hand of the one who kills.

And I have given it to the polisher so that it may be taken in the hand: he has made the sword sharp, he has had it polished, to put it into the hand of him who gives death.

12 Cry out and wail, O son of man! For this has been done among my people, this is among all the leaders of Israel, who have fled. They have been handed over to the sword, with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh,

Give loud cries and make sounds of grief, O son of man: for it has come on my people, it has come on all the rulers of Israel: fear of the sword has come on my people: for this cause give signs of grief.

13 for it has been tested. And this one, when he will have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.

14 You therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike hand against hand, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled. This is the sword of the great slaughter, which causes them to be utterly stupefied,

So then, son of man, be a prophet, and put your hands together with a loud sound, and give two blows with the sword, and even three; it is the sword of those who are wounded, even the sword of the wounded; the great sword which goes round about them.

15 and to waste away in heart, and which multiplies ruin. At all their gates, I have presented the consternation of the sword, which has been sharpened and polished so as to shine, which has been dressed for the slaughter.

In order that hearts may become soft, and the number of those who are falling may be increased, I have sent death by the sword against all their doors: you are made like a flame, you are polished for death.

16 Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.

Be pointed to the right, to the left, wherever your edge is ordered.

17 And then I will clap hand against hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

And I will put my hands together with a loud sound, and I will let my wrath have rest: I the Lord have said it.

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

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

19 “And as for you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may approach. Both shall go forth from one land. And with a hand, he will grasp and cast lots; he will cast at the head of the way of the community.

And you, son of man, have two ways marked out, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; let the two of them come out of one land: and let there be a pillar at the top of the road:

20 You shall appoint a way, so that the sword may approach to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, or to Judah, into Jerusalem, greatly fortified.

Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.

21 For the king of Babylon stood at the fork, at the head of the two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows; he inquired of idols, and he consulted entrails.

For the king of Babylon took his place at the parting of the ways, at the top of the two roads, to make use of secret arts: shaking the arrows this way and that, he put questions to the images of his gods, he took note of the inner parts of dead beasts.

22 To his right was set the divination over Jerusalem, to place battering rams so as to open a mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice of wailing, to place battering rams opposite the gates, to cast up a rampart, to build fortifications.

At his right hand was the fate of Jerusalem, to give orders for destruction, to send up the war-cry, to put engines of war against the doors, lifting up earthworks, building walls.

23 And he shall be, in their eyes, like someone consulting an oracle in vain, or imitating the leisure of Sabbaths. But he will call to mind iniquities, so that it will be captured.

And this answer given by secret arts will seem false to those who have given their oaths and have let them be broken: but he will keep the memory of evil-doing so that they may be taken.

24 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have been remembered in your iniquities, and you have revealed your betrayals, and your sins have appeared within all your plans, because, I say, you have been remembered, you will be captured by a hand.

For this cause the Lord has said: Because you have made your evil-doing come to mind by the uncovering of your wrongdoing, causing your sins to be seen in all your evil-doings; because you have come to mind, you will be taken in them.

25 But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:

And you, O evil one, wounded to death, O ruler of Israel, whose day has come in the time of the last punishment;

26 Thus says the Lord God: Take away the diadem, remove the crown. Is this not what has exalted the lowly one, and brought low the sublime one?

This is what the Lord has said: Take away the holy head-dress, take off the crown: this will not be again: let that which is low be lifted up, and that which is high be made low.

27 Iniquity, iniquity, iniquity I will make it. And this was not done until the one arrived to whom judgment belongs, and I will hand it over to him.

I will let it be overturned, overturned, overturned: this will not be again till he comes whose right it is; and I will give it to him.

28 And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their disgrace, and you shall say: O sword, O sword, unsheathe yourself so as to slay; polish yourself so as to kill and to shine,

And you, son of man, say as a prophet, This is what the Lord has said about the children of Ammon and about their shame: Say, A sword, even a sword let loose, polished for death, to make it shining so that it may be like a flame:

29 while they look upon you in vain, and they divine lies, so that you may be given over to the necks of the wounded impious, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity.

Your vision is to no purpose, your use of secret arts gives a false answer, to put it on the necks of evil-doers who are wounded to death, whose day has come, in the time of the last punishment.

30 Be returned to your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.

Go back into your cover. In the place where you were made, in the land from which you were taken, I will be your judge.

31 And I will pour out upon you my indignation. In the fire of my fury, I will fan you, and I will give you over to the hands of cruel men, who have devised destruction.

And I will let loose my burning passion on you, breathing out on you the fire of my wrath: and I will give you up into the hands of men like beasts, trained to destruction.

32 You will be food for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will be delivered to oblivion. For I, the Lord, have spoken.”

You will be food for the fire; your blood will be drained out in the land; there will be no more memory of you: for I the Lord have said it.