Ezekiel 21

1 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

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

2 “You human, turn toward Jerusalem. Preach about what will happen to the temple [there]. Preach about what will happen to the Israeli people.

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the soil of Israel.

3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I am opposed to you.

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 [what I will do to you will be as though] [MET] I will pull my sword from its sheath [and strike you]. I will kill everyone, including righteous people and wicked people [DOU]. I will get rid of everyone, 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 Then everyone will know [it is as though] I, Yahweh, have struck people with my sword, and I will not put it back in its sheath again.’

So may all flesh know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath irrevocably.

6 Therefore, you human, groan! Groan in front of the Israeli people very sadly and sorrowfully [IDM, DOU].

And as for you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.

7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ tell them, ‘Because of the news that they soon will hear. Everyone will be very fearful [IDM], and their knees will become as weak as [SIM] water. [A great disaster] will soon occur. That is what Yahweh the Lord is promising.’”

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 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],

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

9 “You human, prophesy and say [to them], ‘This is what Yahweh says: I have sharpened my sword and polished it.

“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 in order that I can [many people with it]; it is polished so that it will flash like lightning. The people of Judah will not [their being punished like this], but they did not repent [I only struck them] with a stick.

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 A sword should be polished, and be grasped [in someone’s hand]. It should be sharpened and polished, ready for someone to use it to kill people.

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 [So, ] you human, cry and wail, because I will use my sword to kill my people, including the leaders of Israel. They and all the other people, my people, will be killed by swords, so beat your [to show that you are sad].

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 I am about to test my people, and the kings [MTY] of Judah will not escape being punished. That is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say.

for it has been tested. And this one, when he will have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.

14 So, you human, prophesy; clap your [to show that you are very happy about what is going to happen]. My sword will strike them again and again; it is a sword for slaughtering many people, while I attack them from every side.

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 In order that people will be very much afraid [IDM] and many people will be killed, I have [soldiers holding] my swords at every [city] gate, ready to slaughter people. Those swords will flash like lightning, as the [soldiers] grasp them to slaughter people.

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 Their swords [APO] will slash to the right and [then] to the left, whichever way they turn the blades.

Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.

17 Then I will clap my [triumphantly]; and [then] I will no longer be angry. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.’”

And then I will clap hand against hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

18 Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

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

19 “You human, [a map], and on it mark two roads for the King of Babylonia to march [along with his army, carrying] their swords. When they depart from their country, they will come to a sign post where the road divides.

“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 [If they continue on the one road, ] they will attack [city], the capital of the Ammon people-group. [If they continue on the other road, ] they will come to Judah and to Jerusalem, [a city] with walls around it.

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 [When the army of] Babylonia comes to where the road divides, [they will stop], and the king will perform magic rituals [to decide which road to go on]. He will throw arrows; [then] consult his [about which road to go on], and he will (examine/look at) the [of a sheep].

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 With his right hand he will pick up the arrow marked ‘Jerusalem’. He will [command his soldiers to go to Jerusalem. When they arrive there, they] will set up (rams/devices to [down the walls], ) and [then] the king will give the command for them to slaughter [the people]. They will shout [a battle-cry], and they will set up the rams against the [city] gates. They will build a dirt ramp [against the walls around the city], and set up things to bash those walls.

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 The [in Jerusalem] who had promised [to be loyal to the King of Babylonia will think that those rituals must be wrong. They will think that his army should not be attacking them]. But he will remind them of the sins [MTY] that they had committed, [his army] will capture them.

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, [tell the Israeli people that] this is what Yahweh the Lord says: ‘You people have allowed everyone to see that you are openly [against the King of Babylonia], and by doing that you have shown that everything that you do is sinful. Therefore you will be captured and [to Babylonia].’

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 Also, say, ‘You very wicked [DOU] king of Israel, it is your [to die]. It is the time for you to be punished.’

But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:

26 And this is what Yahweh the Lord says [to you soldiers from Babylonia]: ‘Take off [the king’s] turban and his crown, because now things will be different than they were [before]. [in Jerusalem] who had no authority will now be given authority, and those who had authority will have their authority taken from them.

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 [Jerusalem] will be completely ruined. I will cause it to be ruined, and it will not be rebuilt/restored until the king to whom the city truly belongs comes; I will give it to [to rule it].’”

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, you human, prophesy and say [this]: 'This is what Yahweh the Lord says about the Ammon people-group, and about what they have said to insult [Israel]: [“The King of Babylon says, ] ‘[My soldiers have] swords’ [APO]; they have pulled out those swords to slaughter many people. They have polished them in order to kill people, and to make those swords flash like lightning.

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 [Your prophets] have given you false visions about [what will happen to] you, and they have given you messages that are not true. So swords will strike the necks of those wicked people; it is time for them to be killed; it is the day when they will be [for their sins].

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 You must put your swords back in their sheaths [because the days for you to slaughter your enemies are ended]. I will judge those people in the country where they were born.

Be returned to your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.

31 I will pour out my punishment [MTY] on them. Because I am very angry with them, my breath on them will scorch them [like] fire [MET]. I will allow brutal men to capture them, men who are experts in killing people.

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 You will be [like] fuel [MET] [that is burned] in a fire. Your blood will be shed in your own land. No one will remember you any more. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said 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.”