Ezekiel 21

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

Then the word of the LORD came unto 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 thy face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;

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

and say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth My sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

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.

Seeing then that I will 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;

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.’

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

Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes.

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 it shall be, when they say unto thee: Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say: Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be slack, and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip with water; behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.'

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

And the word of the LORD came unto 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 say: Thus saith the LORD: Say: A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished:

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 is sharpened that it may make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter — or shall we make mirth? — against the rod of My son, contemning 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 it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled; the sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

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 and wail, son of man; for it is upon My people, it is upon all the princes of Israel; they are thrust down to the sword with My people; smite therefore upon thy 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 there is a trial; and what if it contemn even the rod? It shall be no more, saith 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.

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of those to be slain; it is the sword of the great one that is to be slain, which compasseth them about.

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.

I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied; ah! it is made glittering, it is sharpened for slaughter.

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

Go thee one way to the right, or direct thyself to the left; whither is thy face set?

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.’”

I will also smite My hands together, and I will satisfy My fury; I the LORD have spoken it.'

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

And the word of the LORD came unto 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.

'Now, thou son of man, make thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they twain shall come forth out of one land; and mark a signpost, mark it clear at the head of the way to the city.

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.

Thou shalt make a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the 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 standeth at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shaketh the arrows to and fro, he inquireth of the teraphim, he looketh in the liver.

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.

In his right hand is the lot Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.

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 it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, who have weeks upon weeks! but it bringeth iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.

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 saith the Lord GOD: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that your sins do appear in all your doings; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the 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.’

And thou, O wicked one, that art to be slain, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end;

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 saith the Lord GOD: The mitre shall be removed, and the crown taken off; this shall be no more the same: that which is low shall be exalted, and that which is high abased.

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].’”

A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, will I make it; this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it 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 thou, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their taunt; and say thou: O sword, O sword keen-edged, furbished for the slaughter, to the uttermost, because of the glitterings;

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 see falsehood unto thee, while they divine lies unto thee, to lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are to be slain, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end!

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.

Cause it to return into its sheath! — In the place where thou wast created, in the land of thine origin, will I judge thee.

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 My indignation upon thee, I will blow upon thee with the fire of My wrath; and I will deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, skilful to destroy.

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.” '”

Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land, thou shalt be no more remembered; for I the LORD have spoken it.'