Ezekiel 21

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

And there is a word of YHWH to 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 your face toward Jerusalem, and prophesy to the holy places, and prophesy to the ground 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 you have said to the ground of Israel, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I [am] against you, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off righteous and wicked from you.

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.

Because that I have cut off righteous and wicked from you, Therefore My sword goes out from its scabbard, To all flesh, from south to north.

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

And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It does not turn back anymore.

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

And you, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, indeed, sigh before their eyes with bitterness,

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 has come to pass, when they say to you, Why are you sighing? That you have said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And every heart has melted, And all hands have been feeble, And every spirit is weak, And all knees go [as] waters, Behold, it is coming, indeed, it has been, A declaration of Lord YHWH.”

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

And there is a word of YHWH to 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 you have said, Thus said YHWH: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.

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 so as to slaughter a slaughter. It is polished so as to have brightness, Or do we rejoice? It is despising the scepter 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 gives it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened—the sword—and polished, To give it into the hand of a 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 has been among My people, It [is] among all the princes of Israel, My people have been cast to the sword. Therefore strike on your 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 trier, And what if it is even despising the scepter? It will not be, a declaration of 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!

And you, son of man, prophesy, And strike hand on hand, And the sword is bent a third time, The sword of the wounded! It [is] the sword of the wounded—the great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them.

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.

To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, I have set the point of a sword by all their gates. Aah! It is made for brightness, Wrapped up for slaughter.

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

Take possession of the right, place yourself at the left, To where your face is appointed.

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

And I also, I strike My hand on My hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, YHWH, have spoken.”

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

And there is a word of YHWH to me, 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.

“And you, son of man, appoint two ways for yourself, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; they come forth from one land, both of them. And create a station; create [it] at the top of the way of 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 for the coming of the sword, To Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in fortified Jerusalem.

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 has stood at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He has moved lightly with the arrows, He has inquired of the teraphim, He has looked on 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.

The divination [for] Jerusalem has been at his right, To place battering-rams, To open the mouth with slaughter, To lift up a voice with shouting, To place battering-rams against the gates, To pour out a mound, to build a fortification.

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 has been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, But he is causing iniquity to be remembered [so they] are caught.

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 said Lord YHWH: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, You are caught by 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 you, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day has come, In the time of the iniquity of the 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 said Lord YHWH: Turn aside the turban, and carry away the crown, This—not this—make high the low, And make low the 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.

An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, Also this has not been until the coming of Him, Whose [is] the judgment, and I have given it.

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 you, son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and you have said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, Polished to the utmost for brightness!

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.

In seeing a vain thing for you, In divining a lie for you, To put you on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day has come, In the time of the iniquity of the end.

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

Turn [it] back to its scabbard; I judge you In the place where you were produced, In the land of your birth.

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 have poured My indignation on you, I blow against you with [the] fire of My wrath, And have given you into the hand of brutish men—craftsmen of destruction.

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!'”

You are fuel for the fire, Your blood is in the midst of the land, You are not remembered, For I, YHWH, have spoken!”