Ezekiel 21
1 A message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, face towards Jerusalem and condemn their places of worship. Prophesy against the people living in Israel
Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and let thy speech flow towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel:
3 and tell them that this is what the Lord says: Watch out, because I'm going to attack you! I'm going to take out my sword and destroy you, both the good and the bad.
And say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee the just, and the wicked.
4 Because I'm going to destroy both the good and the bad, I will attack everyone from the north to the south.
And forasmuch as I have cut off in thee the just, and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.
5 Then the whole world will know that I, the Lord, have taken out my sword, and won't put it back again.
That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath not to be turned back.
6 You, son of man, you are to groan. Groan as if you're broken up inside, showing terrible sadness while they watch you.
And thou, son of man, mourn with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness sigh before them.
7 When they ask, ‘What are you groaning for?’ you are to tell them, ‘Because of the news that's coming. All of you will lose your courage and you'll be paralyzed with fear. All of you will be weak with worry—you won't be able to stand up!’ Watch out, because it's coming! It's going to happen! declares the Lord God.”
And when they shall say to thee: Why mournest thou? thou shalt say: For that which I hear: because it cometh, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be made feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and water shall run down every knee: behold it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord God.
8 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 “Son of man, prophesy! Tell them this is what the Lord says: There's a sword, a sword that's being sharpened and polished.
Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Say: The sword, the sword is sharpened, and furbished.
10 It's sharpened for killing and polished so it will flash like lightning! (Are we to be happy, saying, ‘The scepter of my son despises every other stick’?)
It is sharpened to kill victims: it is furbished that it may glitter: thou removest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree.
11 The sword is being polished right now, ready to be used. It's sharp and polished, ready to be handed over to the killer.
And I have given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, that it may be in the hand of the slayer.
12 Weep and wail, son of man, and slap your thigh in grief, for the sword is going to be used to attack my people, to attack all the leaders of Israel! They will be thrown away, killed by the sword along with my people.
Cry, and howl, O son of man, for this sword is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel, that are fled: they are delivered up to the sword with my people, strike therefore upon thy thigh,
13 They will be tested. What if the scepter that despises others doesn't continue? declares the Lord God.
Because it is tried: and that when it shall overthrow the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God.
14 So son of man, prophesy and clap your hands. The sword will attack twice, and then a third time. It is a sword of death, killing many people by coming at them from every direction.
Thou therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled: this is the sword of a great slaughter, that maketh them stand amazed,
15 I have placed a sword at all the gates of their city so that they may lose their courage, and many may fall. Oh no! It's made to flash like lightning and used to kill.
And languish in heart, and that multiplieth ruins. In all their gates I have set the dread of the sharp sword, the sword that is furbished to glitter, that is made ready for slaughter.
16 Slash right and left, whichever way you're facing.
Be thou sharpened, go to the right hand, or to the left, which way soever thou hast a mind to set thy face.
17 I will also clap my hands, and then my anger will be over. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
And I will clap my hands together, and will satisfy my indignation: I the Lord have spoken.
18 Another message from the Lord came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
19 “Son of man, mark the two roads that the king of Babylon's army could take, beginning from the same country. Make a signpost where the road forks, leading to two different cities.
And thou son of man, set thee two ways, for the sword of the king of Babylon to come: both shall come forth out of one land: and with his hand he shall draw lots, he shall consult at the head of the way of the city.
20 Have one sign point down the road for an attack on the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and another to attack Judah and the fortified city of Jerusalem.
Thou shalt make a way that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Juda unto Jerusalem the strong city.
21 The king of Babylon is standing at the fork in the road where the two roads meet looking for a prophetic sign: he casts lots using arrows, he asks advice from idols, and he examines the liver of sacrificial animals.
For the king of Babylon stood in the highway, at the head of two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows: he inquired of the idols, and consulted entrails.
22 He holds the sign for Jerusalem in his right hand. This is where he is going to set up battering rams, to give the command to attack, to shout the war-cry. There he will order the battering rams to smash the gates, set up an attack ramp, and build a siege wall.
On his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in slaughter, to lift up the voice in howling, to set engines against the gates, to cast up a mount, to build forts.
23 To those who have sworn to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar this will look like a false sign, but it will reveal their guilt and they will be taken prisoner.
And he shall be in their eyes as one consulting the oracle in vain, and imitating the leisure of sabbaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity that they may be taken.
24 So this is what the Lord God says: Because you have revealed your guilt and demonstrated your rebellion, showing your sins in everything you've done, now that you've made all this clear, you will be taken prisoner.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have remembered your iniquity, and have discovered your prevarications, and your sins have appeared in all your devices: because, I say, you have remembered, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 As for you, you unclean, wicked prince of Israel, the time has come to complete your punishment.
But thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come that hath been appointed in the time of iniquity:
26 This is what the Lord God says: Take off your turban, and your crown. Things won't continue as they were. Give power to the common people and bring down the powerful!
Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, take off the crown: is it not this that hath exalted the low one, and brought down him that was high?
27 I'm going to destroy everything, make it all a ruin! It won't be restored until its owner arrives, the one I've given the authority to judge.
I will shew it to be iniquity, iniquity, iniquity: but this was not done till he came to whom judgment belongeth, and I will give it him.
28 Prophesy, son of man, and announce that this is what the Lord God says about the Ammonites and their insults: A sword! A sword is ready for killing, polished to destroy, to flash like lightning,
And thou son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and thou shalt say: sword, O sword, come out of the scabbard to kill, be furbished to destroy, and to glitter,
29 even as your prophets give you false visions and prophecies that are lies. This sword will cut the necks of the wicked, killing them—those whose day has come for their punishment to be completed.
Whilst they see vain things in thy regard, and they divine lies: to bring thee upon the necks of the wicked that are wounded, whose appointed day is come in the time of iniquity.
30 Sword, go back to where you came from! I'm going to judge you right where you were created, in your homeland.
Return into thy sheath. I will judge thee in the place wherein thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 I will deal with you in my anger; I will breathe my fire of anger on you; I will hand you over to cruel men who are experts in destruction.
And I will pour out upon thee my indignation: in the fire of my rage will I blow upon thee, and will give thee into the hands of men that are brutish and contrive thy destruction.
32 You will be burned up like firewood. Your blood will be shed where you live. You will be forgotten, for I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Thou shalt be fuel for the fire, thy blood shall be in the midst of the land, thou shalt be forgotten: for I the Lord have spoken it.
