Ezekiel 21

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto 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 thy face unto Jerusalem, and prophesy unto the holy places, and prophesy unto 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 thou hast said unto the ground of Israel: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off from thee righteous and wicked.

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 from thee righteous and wicked, Therefore go out doth My sword from its scabbard, Unto 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 known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It doth not turn back any more.

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

And thou, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, yea, with bitterness thou dost sigh before their eyes,

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 hath come to pass, when they say unto thee, For what art thou sighing? that thou hast said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And melted hath every heart, And feeble hath been all hands, And weak is every spirit, And all knees go — waters, Lo, it is coming, yea, it hath been, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto 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 thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, 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.

So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising 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 giveth 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 hath been among My people, It [is] among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy 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 even the sceptre it is despising? It shall not be, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

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 thou, son of man, prophesy, And smite hand on hand, And bent is the sword 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, By all their gates I have set the point of a sword. Ah, 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 thyself at the left, Whither thy 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 smite My hand on my hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, Jehovah, have spoken.'

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto 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 thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare [it].

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

A way appoint for the coming of the sword, Unto Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in Jerusalem — the fenced.

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 stood hath the king of Babylon at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He hath moved lightly with the arrows, He hath asked at the teraphim, He hath 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.

At his right hath been the divination — Jerusalem, 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 mount, 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 hath been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, And he is causing iniquity to be remembered to be 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 the Lord Jehovah: 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, By the hand ye are caught.

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

And thou, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day hath 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 the Lord Jehovah: Turn aside the mitre, and bear away the crown, This — not this — the low make high, And the high make low.

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 hath not been till 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 thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: and thou hast 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 the seeing for thee of a vain thing, In the divining for thee of a lie, To put thee on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day hath 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 unto its scabbard, In the place where thou wast produced, In the land of thy birth I do judge thee.

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 on thee Mine indignation, With fire of My wrath I blow against thee, And have given thee into the hand of brutish men — artificers 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.

To the fire thou art for fuel, Thy blood is in the midst of the land, Thou art not remembered, For I, Jehovah, have spoken!'