Ezekiel 21

1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

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

2 Son of man, direct thy face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

Therefore prophesy, son of man, set your face steadfastly towards Jerusalem, and look towards their holy places, and you shall prophesy against the land of Israel,

3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus hath said the Lord, Behold, I will be against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath; and I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

and you shall say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord; Behold, I am against you, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of you the transgressor and unrighteous.

4 But because I shall have cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked: therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north;

Because I will destroy out of you the unrighteous and the transgressor, [therefore] so shall my sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

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

and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.

6 But thou, son of man, do thou sigh: as though with broken loins, and with bitterness [of grief] shalt thou sigh before their eyes.

And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of your loins; you shall even groan heavily in their sight.

7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, For the report, because it cometh, when every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be made feeble, and every spirit shall become faint, and all knees shall be changed into water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Eternal.

And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to you, Therefore do you groan? that you shall say, For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, says the Lord.

8 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

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

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus hath said the Lord, Say, The sword, the sword is sharpened, and also polished;

Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord; Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage,

10 In order to make a thorough slaughter is it sharpened; in order that it may glitter is it polished: how can we now rejoice, [when] the rod which reacheth my son excelleth in hardness every tree?

that you may kill victims; be sharpened that you may be bright, ready for slaughter, kill, set at nothing, despise every tree.

11 And he hath given it to be polished, to make it fit to grasp it in the hand: it is the sword which is sharpened, and it is polished, to place it into the hand of the slayer.

And he made it ready for his hand to hold: the sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer.

12 Cry aloud and wail, O son of man; for it cometh against my people, it cometh against all the princes of Israel; brought together for the sword are they with my people: therefore strike [thy hand] upon thy thigh.

Cry out and howl, son of man: for this [sword] is come upon my people, this [sword is come] upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: [judgement] with the sword is come upon my people: therefore clap your hands, for sentence has been passed:

13 For a purification taketh place: and what if the irresistible rod will also come? [my son] would not be able to exist, saith the Lord Eternal.

and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, says the Lord God.

14 But thou, son of man, prophesy, and strike thy hands together, and let “The sword” be repeated the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great that are slain, which lieth in wait for them everywhere.

And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is [the sword] of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and you shall strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint

15 In order to make timid the heart, and to multiply the stumbling-blocks, do I bring the howling of the sword against all their gates: ah! it is made bright, it is made thin-edged for the slaughter.

and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate—they are given up to the slaughter of the sword: it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering.

16 Gather up thy strength, go to the right hand, direct thyself, go to the left, whithersoever thy edge is turned.

And do you go on, sharpen yourself on the right and on the left wherever your face may set itself.

17 And I also, —I will strike my hands together, and I will cause my fury to be assuaged: I the Lord have spoken it.

And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken [it].

18 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

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

19 But thou, O son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; out of one land shall both of them come forth: and select a place; at the head of the way to a city do thou select it.

and you, son of man, appoint you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and [there shall be] a force at the top of the way of the city, you shall set [it] at the top of the way,

20 A way shalt thou appoint, that the sword may come against Rabbah of the children of 'Ammon, and [the other] against Judah [dwelling] in Jerusalem the fortified.

that the sword may enter in upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and upon Judea, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof.

21 For the king of Babylon hath halted at the parting of the way, at the commencement of the two ways, to use divination: he shaketh the arrows, he consulteth with images, he looketh at the liver.

For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine [the victims].

22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to erect battering-rams, to open the mouth with the [cry for] murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to place battering-rams against the gates, to cast up a mound, and to build works of attack.

On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts.

23 And it will appear unto them as a false divination in their eyes, to those that had sworn oaths; but he will bring to remembrance their iniquity, that they may be caught.

And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.

24 Therefore thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Because ye have brought your iniquity to remembrance, as your transgressions are discovered, so that your sins do appear in all your doings: because ye are thus brought to remembrance, ye shall be caught by [his] hand.

Therefore thus says the Lord, Because you have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your [evil] practices; because you have caused remembrance [of them], in these shall you be taken.

25 And thou, death-deserving wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day is come, at the time of the iniquity of the end, —

And you profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, [even] an end, is come in a sea of iniquity, thus says the Lord;

26 Thus hath said the Lord Eternal, Remove the mitre, and take off the crown: this shall not be always so; exalt him that is low, and make him low that is high.

You have taken off the mitre and put on the crown, it shall not have such [another] after it: you have abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low.

27 Overthrown, overthrown, overthrown will I render it: also this shall not belong [to any one], until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him.

Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it: woe to it: such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver [it] to him.

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus hath said the Lord Eternal concerning the children of 'Ammon, and concerning their reproach: even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn; for the slaughter is it polished, to destroy, that it may continue to glitter;

And you, son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, Thus says the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and you shall say, O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that you may gleam.

29 While they foresee unto thee falsehood, while they divine unto thee lies, to lay thee by the necks of the slain wicked, whose day is come, at the time of the iniquity of the end.

While you are seeing vain [visions], and while you are prophesying falsehoods, to bring yourself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day is come, [even] an end, in a season of iniquity.

30 Put back [the sword] into its sheath! in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy origin, will I judge thee.

Turn, rest not in this place wherein you were born: in your own land will I judge you.

31 And I will pour out over thee my indignation, with the fire of my wrath will I blow against thee, and I will give thee up into the hand of brutish men, skilful in destroying.

And I will pour out my wrath upon you, I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction.

32 To the fire shalt thou be given to be devoured; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land: thou shalt not be remembered [any more]; for I the Lord have spoken it.

You shall be fuel for fire; your blood shall be in the midst of your land; there shall be no remembrance at all of you: for I the Lord have spoken [it].