1A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,2‘Son of man, turn your attention to Jerusalem. Preach against the temple. Prophesy against the land of Israel.3Tell them, “The LORD says, ‘I am against you. I will pull out my sword. I will remove from you godly people and sinful people alike.4Because I am going to remove them, my sword will be ready to use. I will strike down everyone from south to north.5Then all people will know that I have pulled out my sword. I will not put it back. I am the LORD.’ ”6‘Groan, son of man! Groan in front of your people. Groan with a broken heart and bitter sorrow.7They will ask you, “Why are you groaning?” Then you will say, “Because of the news that is coming. The hearts of all the people will melt away in fear. Their hands will not be able to help them. Their spirits will grow weak. And they will be so afraid they’ll wet themselves.” The news is coming! You can be sure those things will happen,’ announces the LORD and King.8A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,9‘Son of man, prophesy. Say, “The Lord says, ‘ “ ‘A sword! A sword! A sharp and shiny sword is coming from Babylon!10It is sharpened to kill people. It flashes like lightning.’ ” ’ The people say, ‘Should we take delight in the sceptre of the LORD’s royal son? The sword looks down on every sceptre like this.’11The LORD says, ‘I have told Nebuchadnezzar to shine his sword. It is in his hand. It has been sharpened and shined. It is ready for the killer’s hand.12Son of man, cry out and weep. The sword is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. It will kill them along with the rest of my people. So beat your chest in sorrow.13‘You can be sure that testing will come. Why does the sword look down on the sceptre? Because even the sceptre will not continue to rule,’ announces the LORD and King.14‘Son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands. Let the sword strike twice. Let it strike even three times. It is a sword to kill people. It is a sword to kill many people. It is closing in on them from every side.15People’s hearts will melt away in fear. Many will be wounded or killed. I have prepared the sword to kill people at all their city gates. Look! It strikes like lightning. It is in the killer’s hand.16Sword, cut to the right. Then cut to the left. Strike down people everywhere your blade is turned.17I too will clap my hands. I won’t be so angry anymore. I have spoken. I am the LORD.’18A message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,19‘Son of man, mark out on a map two roads for the sword to take. The sword belongs to the king of Babylon. Both roads start from the same country. Put up a sign where the road turns off to the city of Rabbah.20Mark out one road for the sword to take against Rabbah in Ammon. Mark out another against Judah and the walls of Jerusalem.21The king of Babylon will stop at the place where the two roads meet. He will look for a special sign. He will cast lots by pulling arrows out of a bag. He will ask his gods for advice. And he will look carefully at the liver of a sheep.22His right hand will pull out the arrow for Jerusalem. There he will get huge logs ready to knock down its gates. He will give the command to kill its people. He will sound the battle cry. He will build a ramp up to the city wall. He will bring in his war machines.23The decision to attack Jerusalem will seem like the wrong advice to those who made a treaty with Nebuchadnezzar. But he will remind them that they are guilty. And he will take them away as prisoners.’24So the LORD and King says, ‘You people have reminded everyone of how guilty you are. You have done it by refusing to obey me or any other authority. Everything you do clearly shows how sinful you are. So you will be taken away as prisoners.’25King Zedekiah, your day has come. You are an unholy and evil prince in Israel. The day for you to be punished is here.26The LORD and King says, ‘Take off your turban. Remove your crown. Things will not be as they were in the past. Those who are considered not important will be honoured. And those who are honoured will be considered not important.27Jerusalem will fall. I will destroy it. It will not be rebuilt until the true king comes. After all, the kingdom belongs to him. I will give it to him.28‘Son of man, prophesy. Say, “The LORD and King speaks about the Ammonites. He also talks about the way they laugh because of Jerusalem’s fall. He says, ‘ “ ‘A sword! A sword! Nebuchadnezzar’s sword is ready to kill you. It is shined to destroy you. It flashes like lightning.29The visions of your prophets are false. They use magic to try to find out what is going to happen to you. But their magic tricks are lies. The sword will strike the necks of you sinful people. You will be killed. The day for you to be punished has finally come. Your time is up.30Ammon, return your sword to its place. In the land where you were created, I will judge you. That is where you came from.31I will pour out my anger on you. I will breathe out my burning anger against you. I will hand you over to mean people. They are skilled at destroying others.32You will be burned in the fire. Your blood will be spilled in your land. You will not be remembered anymore. I have spoken. I am the LORD.’ ” ’
Ezekiel 21
English Standard Version
The Lord Has Drawn His Sword
1[1] The word of the Lord came to me:2“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries.[2] Prophesy against the land of Israel (Eze 2:1; Eze 20:46)3and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. (De 32:41; Job 9:22; Jer 47:6; Eze 13:8; Eze 20:47; Eze 21:19; Eze 21:30)4Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.5And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. (Eze 20:48; Eze 21:3; Eze 21:30)6“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. (Eze 6:11; Eze 12:3; Eze 12:18)7And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God. (Jos 2:11; Eze 7:5; Eze 7:17; Eze 12:9; Eze 39:8)8And the word of the Lord came to me:9“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: “A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, (Eze 21:2; Eze 21:3)10sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! (Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.)[3] (Eze 20:47; Eze 21:15; Eze 21:28; Jas 5:5)11So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. (Eze 21:19)12Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. (Jer 31:19; Eze 21:6)13For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?”[4] declares the Lord God. (Eze 21:10)14“As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times,[5] the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, (Nu 24:10; 2Ki 24:1; 2Ki 24:10; 2Ki 25:1; Eze 2:1; Eze 22:13)15that their hearts may melt, and many stumble.[6] At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up[7] for slaughter. (Eze 21:10)16Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.17I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken.” (Eze 5:13; Eze 17:24; Eze 21:14)18The word of the Lord came to me again:19“As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. (Eze 21:11; Eze 21:21)20Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. (Jer 49:1; Eze 25:1; Am 1:13)21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim;[8] he looks at the liver. (Ge 31:19; Eze 21:19)22Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. (Eze 4:2; Eze 26:9)23But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken. (Eze 17:13; Eze 17:20)24“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. (Eze 17:20)25And you, O profane[9] wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, (2Ch 36:13; Jer 52:2; Eze 17:19; Eze 21:29; Eze 22:3; Eze 35:5)26thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. (Eze 17:24; Lu 1:52)27A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him. (Ge 49:10; Eze 21:13; Zec 6:12; Joh 1:49; Re 17:14)28“And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning— (Eze 2:1; Eze 21:5; Eze 21:9; Eze 21:20)29while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. (Eze 13:6; Eze 21:25)30Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. (Eze 16:38; Eze 21:28)31And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy. (Ps 49:10; Eze 7:8; Eze 22:20)32You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the Lord have spoken.” (Eze 17:24; Eze 25:10)