Ezekiel 21

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

And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

2 Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop your word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and prophesy to the holy places, and prophesy to the ground of Israel;

3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD; Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

and you have said to the ground of Israel, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I [am] against you, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off righteous and wicked from you.

4 Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

Because that I have cut off righteous and wicked from you, Therefore My sword goes out from its scabbard, To all flesh, from south to north.

5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It does not turn back anymore.

6 Sigh therefore, you son of man, with the breaking of your loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

And you, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, indeed, sigh before their eyes with bitterness,

7 And it shall be, when they say to you, Why sigh you? that you shall answer, For the tidings; because it comes: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it comes, and shall be brought to pass, says the Lord GOD.

and it has come to pass, when they say to you, Why are you sighing? That you have said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And every heart has melted, And all hands have been feeble, And every spirit is weak, And all knees go [as] waters, Behold, it is coming, indeed, it has been, A declaration of Lord YHWH.”

8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

“Son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said YHWH: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.

10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it scorns the rod of my son, as every tree.

It is sharpened so as to slaughter a slaughter. It is polished so as to have brightness, Or do we rejoice? It is despising the scepter of My son [as] every tree.

11 And he has given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

And He gives it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened—the sword—and polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer.

12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be on my people, it shall be on all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be on my people: smite therefore on your thigh.

Cry and howl, son of man, For it has been among My people, It [is] among all the princes of Israel, My people have been cast to the sword. Therefore strike on your thigh,

13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword scorn even the rod? it shall be no more, says the Lord GOD.

Because [it is] a trier, And what if it is even despising the scepter? It will not be, a declaration of Lord YHWH.

14 You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite your hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which enters into their privy chambers.

And you, son of man, prophesy, And strike hand on hand, And the sword is bent a third time, The sword of the wounded! It [is] the sword of the wounded—the great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them.

15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.

To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, I have set the point of a sword by all their gates. Aah! It is made for brightness, Wrapped up for slaughter.

16 Go you one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, wherever your face is set.

Take possession of the right, place yourself at the left, To where your face is appointed.

17 I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.

And I also, I strike My hand on My hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, YHWH, have spoken.”

18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

19 Also, you son of man, appoint you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both two shall come forth out of one land: and choose you a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

“And you, son of man, appoint two ways for yourself, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; they come forth from one land, both of them. And create a station; create [it] at the top of the way of the city.

20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defended.

Appoint a way for the coming of the sword, To Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in fortified Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

For the king of Babylon has stood at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He has moved lightly with the arrows, He has inquired of the teraphim, He has looked on the liver.

22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

The divination [for] Jerusalem has been at his right, To place battering-rams, To open the mouth with slaughter, To lift up a voice with shouting, To place battering-rams against the gates, To pour out a mound, to build a fortification.

23 And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

And it has been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, But he is causing iniquity to be remembered [so they] are caught.

24 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that you are come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand.

Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, You are caught by the hand.

25 And you, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

And you, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day has come, In the time of the iniquity of the end,

26 Thus says the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

Thus said Lord YHWH: Turn aside the turban, and carry away the crown, This—not this—make high the low, And make low the high.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, Also this has not been until the coming of Him, Whose [is] the judgment, and I have given it.

28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say you, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

And you, son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and you have said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, Polished to the utmost for brightness!

29 Whiles they see vanity to you, whiles they divine a lie to you, to bring you on the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

In seeing a vain thing for you, In divining a lie for you, To put you on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day has come, In the time of the iniquity of the end.

30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.

Turn [it] back to its scabbard; I judge you In the place where you were produced, In the land of your birth.

31 And I will pour out my indignation on you, I will blow against you in the fire of my wrath, and deliver you into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy.

And I have poured My indignation on you, I blow against you with [the] fire of My wrath, And have given you into the hand of brutish men—craftsmen of destruction.

32 You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the middle of the land; you shall be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

You are fuel for the fire, Your blood is in the midst of the land, You are not remembered, For I, YHWH, have spoken!”