Ezekiel 21

1 Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying:

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

2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word 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 saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and 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 Seeing then that I 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 And all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, 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 Thou, therefore, O son of man, sigh! With the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness, 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 when they shall say to thee, “Wherefore sighest thou?” thou shalt say, “For the rumor, because it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall fail, and all knees shall flow with water. Behold it cometh, it shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Jehovah.”

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 Also the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

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

9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, The sword, the sword is sharpened and furbished.

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

10 It is sharpened, that it may make sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter. Or shall we make mirth? The staff of my son despiseth every rod.

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 gave it to be furbished that it might be handled. The sword is sharpened and furbished, to be given 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 and howl, son of man! for it cometh upon my people, upon all the princes of Israel. They are given up to the sword with my people. Therefore smite 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 The trial is made. And what if even the contemning staff should be no more? saith the Lord Jehovah.

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

14 Thou, therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together! for twice, yea thrice, cometh the sword, a sword of slaughter, a sword of great slaughter, that besetteth them on every side.

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 That their hearts may faint, and their overthrown may be multiplied, I have set the terror of the sword against all their gates. Ah, how is it made to glitter, polished for 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 Unite thyself, smite to the right, prepare thyself, smite to the left, whithersoever thine edge is turned!

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

17 I also will smite my hands together, and cause mine anger to cease. I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

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

18 The word of Jehovah came to me again, saying:

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

19 Do thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways by which the sword of the king of Babylon may come; from one land shall both of them come; and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

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 Appoint a way, that the sword may come towards Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and towards Judah, to Jerusalem, the fenced city.

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 shall stand at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shall shake together his arrows, he shall consult the teraphim, he shall look 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 In his right hand shall be the lot: Jerusalem, to set battering-rams, to open the mouth with the war-cry, to lift up the voice in shouting, to set battering-rams against the gates, to cast up a mound, to build a tower.

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 this shall appear a false divination in their sight, because they swore oaths to them. But he shall call to remembrance their iniquity, that they may be taken.

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 saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye make your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear, —because, I say, ye bring yourselves into remembrance, ye shall be taken with that 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, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day cometh in the time when iniquity bringeth destruction!

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 saith the Lord Jehovah: I will remove the diadem, and take away the crown! This shall no more be this. I exalt him that is low, and abase him 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 I will destroy, destroy, destroy it; and it shall be no more until he come to whom the right belongeth, and to whom I will give it.

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 saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon and their scorn; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn; to slay, to consume, is it furbished, so that it glittereth;

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 see deceit for thee, and prophesy falsehood, that it may bring thee to the necks of the wicked that are slain, whose day cometh in the time when iniquity bringeth destruction.

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 Return the sword into its sheath! In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity, I will 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 upon thee my indignation, I will blow upon thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hands of brutal men, skilful to destroy.

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 Thou shalt be fuel for the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; men shall no more remember thee. I, Jehovah, 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].