Ezekiel 21:1–32

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ²Son of man, ^aset thy face toward Jerusalem, and ^adrop thy word toward the holy places, and ^aprophesy against the land of Israel, ³and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of ^bhis sheath, and ^cwill cut off from thee ^dthe righteous and the wicked. ⁴Seeing then that ^cI will cut off from thee ^dthe righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of ^bhis sheath against all flesh ^efrom the south to the north: ⁵that all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of ^bhis sheath: ^fit shall not return any more. ⁶Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh ^ffbefore their eyes. ⁷And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and ^gevery heart shall melt, and ^hall hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and ^hall knees shall be weak as water: ^hhbehold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.

⁸Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, ⁱA sword, a sword ^jis sharpened, and also ^kfurbished: ^10jit is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; ^kit is furbished that it may ^ilglitter: should ^mwe then make mirth? it contemneth ⁿthe rod of ^nomy son, as every tree. ¹¹And he hath given it ^kto be furbished, that it may be handled: ^jthis sword is sharpened, and ^kit is furbished, to give it into the hand of ^pthe slayer. ¹²Cry 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: ^qsmite therefore upon thy thigh. ¹³Because it is a trial, and ^rwhat if the sword contemn even the rod? it ^sshall be no more, saith the Lord God. ¹⁴Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and ^qtsmite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled ^uthe third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, ^vwhich entereth into their privy chambers. ¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ^wruins be multiplied: ah, it is made ^lbright, it is wrapt up for the slaughter. ^16xGo thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, ^ywhithersoever thy face is set. ¹⁷I will also ^qtsmite mine hands together, and ^zI will cause my fury to rest: ^zzI the Lord have said it.

¹⁸The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, ¹⁹Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of ^athe king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and ^bchoose thou ^ca place, ^bchoose it, ^dat the head of the way to the city. ²⁰Appoint a way, that ^ethe sword may come to ^efRabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. ²¹For the king of Babylon stood at ^gthe parting of the way, ^dat the head of the two ways, ^hto use divination: he ⁱmade his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. ²²At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth ^lin the slaughter, ^mto lift up the voice with shouting, ^kto appoint battering rams against the gates, ^kto cast a mount, and ^kto build a fort. ²³And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, ⁿto them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, ^othat they may be taken. ²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord God; 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, ^oye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵And thou, ^pprofane ^qwicked prince of Israel, ^rwhose day is come, ^rrwhen iniquity shall have an end, ²⁶thus saith the Lord God; Remove ^sthe diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: ^texalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. ²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and ^uit shall be no more, ^vuntil he come whose right it is; and ^wI will give it him.

²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God ^xconcerning the Ammonites, and ^xconcerning their reproach; even say thou, ^yThe sword, the sword is ^yydrawn: for the slaughter it is ^yfurbished, to consume because of the ^yglittering: ²⁹whiles ^zthey see vanity unto thee, whiles ^zthey divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain of the wicked, ^rwhose day is come, ^rrwhen their iniquity shall have an end. ³⁰Shall I cause it to return into ^ahis sheath? ^bI will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of ^cthy nativity. ³¹And ^dI will pour out mine indignation upon thee, ^eI will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of ^fbrutish men, and skilful to destroy. ³²Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; ^gthou shalt be no more remembered: ^zzfor I the Lord have spoken it.

XXII.