Ezekiel 21
1 The word of ye Lord came to me againe, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 Sonne of man, set thy face toward Ierusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophecie against the land of Israel.
“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the soil of Israel.
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord, Beholde, I come against thee, and will drawe my sword out of his sheath, and cut off from thee both the righteous and the wicked.
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.
4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee both the righteous and wicked, therefore shall my sworde goe out of his sheath against all flesh from the South to the North,
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.
5 That all flesh may knowe that I the Lord haue drawen my sworde out of his sheath, and it shall not returne any more.
So may all flesh know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath irrevocably.
6 Mourne therefore, thou sonne of man, as in the paine of thy reines, and mourne bitterly before them.
And as for you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.
7 And if they say vnto thee, Wherefore mournest thou? then answere, Because of the bruite: for it commeth, and euery heart shall melt, and all handes shall be weake, and all mindes shall faint, and all knees shall fall away as water: beholde, it commeth, and shall be done, saith the Lord God.
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.”
8 Againe, the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 Sonne of man, prophecie, and say, Thus saith the Lord God, say, A sworde, a sworde both sharpe, and fourbished.
“Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Speak: The sword! The sword has been sharpened and polished!
10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, and it is fourbished that it may glitter: how shall we reioyce? for it contemneth the rod of my sonne, as all other trees.
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.
11 And he hath giuen it to be fourbished, that he may handle it: this sword is sharpe, and is fourbished, that he may giue it into ye hand of the slayer.
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.
12 Cry, and houle, sonne of man: for this shall come to my people, and it shall come vnto all the princes of Israel: the terrours of the sword shall be vpon my people: smite therefore vpon thy thigh.
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,
13 For it is a triall, and what shall this be, if the sworde contemne euen the rodde? It shall be no more, saith the Lord God.
for it has been tested. And this one, when he will have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.
14 Thou therefore, sonne of man, prophecie, and smite hand to hand, and let the sworde be doubled: let the sworde that hath killed, returne the third time: it is the sword of the great slaughter entring into their priuie chambers.
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,
15 I haue brought the feare of the sword into all their gates to make their heart to faint, and to multiplie their ruines. Ah it is made bright, and it is dressed for the slaughter.
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.
16 Get thee alone: goe to the right hande, or get thy selfe to the left hande, whithersoeuer thy face turneth.
Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.
17 I wil also smite mine hands together, and wil cause my wrath to cease. I the Lord haue said it.
And then I will clap hand against hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
18 The worde of the Lord came vnto mee againe, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
19 Also thou sonne of man, appoint thee two wayes, that the sworde of the King of Babel may come: both twaine shall come out of one lande, and chuse a place, and chuse it in the corner of the way of the citie.
“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.
20 Appoint a way, that the sworde may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Iudah in Ierusalem the strong citie.
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.
21 And the King of Babel stoode at the parting of the way, at the head of the two wayes, consulting by diuination, and made his arrowes bright: hee consulted with idoles, and looked in the liuer.
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.
22 At his right hand was the diuination for Ierusalem to appoint captaines, to open their mouth in the slaughter, and to lift vp their voyce with shouting, to laye engines of warre against the gates, to cast a mount, and to builde a fortresse.
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.
23 And it shalbe vnto them as a false diuination in their sight for the othes made vnto them: but hee will call to remembrance their iniquitie, to the intent they should be taken.
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.
24 Therefore thus sayeth the Lord God, Because ye haue made your iniquitie to bee remembred, in discouering your rebellion, that in al your workes your sinnes might appeare: because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
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.
25 And thou prince of Israel polluted, and wicked, whose day is come, when iniquitie shall haue an ende,
But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:
26 Thus saith the Lord God, I will take away the diademe, and take off the crowne: this shalbe no more the same: I wil exalt the humble, and will abase him that is hie.
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?
27 I wil ouerturne, ouerturne, ouerturne it, and it shall be no more vntill he come, whose right it is, and I will giue it him.
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.
28 And thou, sonne of man, prophecie, and say, Thus saith the Lord God to the children of Ammon, and to their blasphemie: say thou, I say, The sword, the sword is drawen foorth, and fourbished to the slaughter, to consume, because of the glittering:
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,
29 Whiles they see vanitie vnto thee, and prophecied a lie vnto thee to bring thee vpon the neckes of the wicked that are slaine, whose day is come when their iniquitie shall haue an ende.
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.
30 Shall I cause it to returne into his sheath? I will iudge thee in the place where thou wast created, euen in the land of thine habitation.
Be returned to your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.
31 And I wil powre out mine indignation vpon thee, and will blowe against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliuer thee into the hand of beastly men, and skilfull to destroy.
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.
32 Thou shalt bee in the fire to be deuoured: thy blood shall be in the middes of the lande, and thou shalt be no more remembred: for I the Lord haue spoken it.
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.”
