GOD’S SWORD OF JUDGMENT

21 The word of the Lord came to me again: 2 “Son of man, facev Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 and say to it, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you.w I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Since I will cut offA both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will therefore come out of its sheath against all humanity from the south to the north.x 5 So all humanity will know that I, the Lord, have taken my sword from its sheath—it will not be sheathed again.’y