Ezekiel 21

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

And the word of Yhwh came unto me, saying,

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel.

Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

3 Say to the land of Israel, 'Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you! I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous person and the wicked person from you!

And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Yhwh; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

4 In order for me to cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you, my sword will go out from its sheath against all flesh 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 his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

5 Then all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword from its sheath. It will no longer hold back!'

That all flesh may know that I Yhwh have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

6 As for you, son of man, groan as your loins break! In bitterness groan before their eyes!

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

7 Then it will happen that they will ask you, 'For what reason are you groaning?' Then you will say, 'Because of the news that is coming, for every heart will faint away, and every hand will falter! Every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will flow like water. Behold! It is coming and it will be like this!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”

And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: 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 cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord Yhwh.

8 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

Again the word of Yhwh came unto me, saying,

9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, 'The Lord says this: “Say: A sword! A sword! It will be sharpened and polished!

Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Yhwh; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

10 It will be sharpened in order to engage in great slaughter! It will be polished in order to be like lightning! Should we rejoice in my son's scepter? The coming sword hates every such rod!

It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

11 So the sword will be given to be polished, and then to be grasped by the hand! The sword is sharpened and it is polished and it is to be given into the hand of the one who kills!”'”

And he hath 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.

12 Call for help and lament, son of man! For that sword has come against my people! It is against all the leaders of Israel. They are thrown against the sword with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh!

Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

13 For there is a trial, but what if the scepter does not last?—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord Yhwh.

14 Now you, son of man, prophesy and hit your two hands together, for the sword will attack even a third time! A sword for the ones to be slaughtered! It is a sword for the many to be slaughtered, piercing them everywhere!

Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine 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 entereth into their privy chambers.

15 In order to melt their hearts and to multiply their fallen, I have set the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Ah! It is made like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter.

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.

16 You, sword! Strike to the right! Strike to the left! Go wherever your face is turned.

Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

17 For I will also hit my two hands together, and then I will bring my fury to rest! I, Yahweh, declare it!”

I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I Yhwh have said it.

18 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

The word of Yhwh came unto me again, saying,

19 “Now you, son of man, assign two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. The two roads will start in the same land, and a signpost will mark one of them as leading to a city.

Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

20 Mark one road for the Babylonian army to come to Rabbah, the city of the Ammonites. Mark the other to lead the army to Judah and the city of Jerusalem, which is fortified.

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

21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the crossroads, at the junction, in order to practice divination. He will shake some arrows and ask direction from some idols and he will examine a liver.

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.

22 In his right hand will be an omen about Jerusalem, to set battering rams against it, to open his mouth to order the slaughter, to sound a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect siege towers.

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.

23 It will seem to be a useless omen in the eyes of the ones in Jerusalem, those who had sworn an oath to the Babylonians! But the king will accuse them of violating their treaty in order to besiege them!

And it shall be unto 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.

24 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, making your transgressions to be revealed, so that in all your actions your sins will be seen— because you have done this you will be taken in hand.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Because ye 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 ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

25 As for you, profane and wicked ruler of Israel, whose day of punishment has come, and whose time of committing iniquity has ended,

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

26 the Lord Yahweh says this to you: Remove the turban and take off the crown! Things will no longer be the same! Exalt the lowly and humble the exalted!

Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; 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.

27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until the one comes who is assigned to execute judgment.

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.

28 So you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this to the people of Ammon concerning their coming disgrace: A sword, a sword is drawn! It is sharpened for the slaughter in order to devour, so it will be like lightning!

And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

29 While prophets see empty visions for you, while they perform rituals to come up with lies for you, this sword will lie on the necks of the wicked who are about to be killed, whose day of punishment has come and whose time of iniquity is about to end.

Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

30 Return the sword to its sheath. In the place of your creation, in the land of your origin, I will judge you!

Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.

31 I will pour out my indignation on you! I will fan the fire of my rage against you and put you into the hand of cruel men, craftsmen of destruction!

And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.

32 You will become fuel for the fire! Your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh have declared this!'”

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 Yhwh have spoken it.