Ezekiel 21:1–17

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, aset thy face toward Jerusalem, and adrop thy word toward the holy places, and aprophesy against the land of Israel, 3 And 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. 4 Seeing 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: 5 That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of bhis sheath: fit shall not return any more. 6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh ffbefore their eyes. 7 And 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.

8 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, iA sword, a sword jis sharpened, and also kfurbished: 10 jIt 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. 11 And 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. 12 Cry 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. 13 ||Because it is a trial, and rwhat if the sword contemn even the rod? it sshall be no more, saith the Lord God. 14 Thou 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. 15 I 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 ||wrapped up for the slaughter. 16 xGo thee one way or other, either on the right hand, †or on the left, ywhithersoever thy face is set. 17 I will also qtsmite mine hands together, and zI will cause my fury to rest: zzI the Lord have said it.