Ezekiel

21 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:

2 Son of man, Set thy face against Jerusalem, And drop [thy word] against the holy places; And prophesy against the soil of Israel.

3 Thou shalt say then to the soil of Israel, Thus saith Yahweh, Behold me against thee, Therefore will I bring forth my sword out of its sheath,—and will cut off from thee the righteous and the lawless.

4 Because I have cut off from thee the righteous and the lawless Therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north:

5 So shall all flesh know that I Yahweh have brought forth my sword out of its sheath,—it shall not return any more.

6 Thou therefore, O son of man, sigh,—In the sharp pain of thy loins and in bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes.

7 And it shall come to pass when they shall say unto thee, Wherefore art thou sighing? that thou shalt say, For the report because it cometh, When every heart shall melt And all hands be unnerved And every spirit shall become faint And all knees shall be weak as water, Lo! it cometh and shall be brought to pass, Saith My Lord Yahweh.

8 And the word of Yahweh came unto me saying:

9 Son of man, Prophesy and thou shalt say, Thus saith My Lord,—Say, A sword! a sword! Sharpened, moreover also furbished:

10 To make a slaughter is it sharpened, That it may flash as lightning is it furbished. Or shall we flourish the royal rod of my son which despiseth every tree?

11 It hath however been given to be furbished that it may be grasped by the hand: The same is a sword sharpened, Yea the same is furbished, Ready to be given into the hand of the slayer.

12 Make an outcry and howl, son of man, For the same hath come against my people, The same is against all the princes of Israel,—Who are thrown to the sword with my people, Therefore smite thou upon thy thigh.

13 For trial hath been made, What then even though the royal rod despiseth shall it not be? Demandeth My Lord Yahweh.

14 Thou therefore, son of man, Prophesy and smite thy hands together, And let the sword smite twice, thrice, the sword of the slain, The same is the great sword of the slain, that which hemmeth them in.

15 That the heart may melt And the overthrown be multiplied at all their gates I have recompensed a slaying by the sword: Surely it hath been made ready to flash like lightning, keen for slaughter.

16 One firm stroke to the right, Turn to the left,—Whithersoever thine edge is directed,

17 Yea even I myself will smite my hands together, And will cause mine indignation to find rest,—I Yahweh have spoken.

18 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me saying:

19 Thou therefore, son of man, Appoint thee two ways For the sword of the king of Babylon to enter, Out of one land shall those two [ways] come,—And a hand engrave thou, At the head of the way to the city engrave it.

20 A way shalt thou appoint, for the sword to enter Even to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon,—And to Judah against Jerusalem, the defenced,

21 For the king of Babylon hath come to a stand At the parting of the way, At the head of the two ways, To divine a divination: He hath shaken with arrows, He hath asked of the household gods, He hath inspected the liver.

22 On his right hand hath come the divination—Jerusalem! To plant battering-rams, To open a hole by breach, To lift up the voice with a war-shout,—To plant battering-rams against the gates, To cast up an earth-work, To build a siege-wall.

23 Though it will become to them a veritably false divination in their eyes, even when bound by oaths to them Yet he calling to mind iniquity [will determine] that it shall be captured.

24 Therefore Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, Because ye have brought to mind your iniquity, by revealing your transgressions, causing your sins to appear in all your doings,—Because ye have brought yourselves to mind By force shall ye be captured.

25 Thou therefore, O profane lawless one, prince of Israel,—Whose day hath come in a time of final iniquity:

26 Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, Remove the turban, And lift off the crown,—This not that, The abased exalt, And the exalted abase.

27 An overthrow, overthrow, overthrow will I make it,—Even this hath not befallen until the coming of One to whom belongeth the right Then will I bestow it.

28 Thou therefore, son of man, Prophesy and say, Thus saith My Lord Yahweh, As to the sons of Ammon and as to their reproach, Yea thou shalt say, A sword! a sword! Drawn for slaughter, Furbished that when it beginneth it may flash like lightning;

29 Since they see for thee false visions, Since they divine for thee lies To stretch thee upon the necks of them who are the most profaned of lawless ones, Whose day hath come in a time of final iniquity.

30 Put it back into its sheath! In the place where thou wast created, In the land of thy nativity will I judge thee.

31 Then will I pour out upon thee mine indignation, With the fire of mine outburst will I blow upon thee; and will deliver thee up into the hand of brutish men, skilled to destroy.

32 For the fire shalt thou serve as fuel, Thy blood shall be in the midst of the land,—Thou shalt not be remembered, For I Yahweh have spoken.