Ezekiel 21:1–17

A Vision of the Avenging Sword of Yahweh

21 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Son of man,b set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. 3 And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 Becausec I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath tod all creaturese from south to north. 5 And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!” ’ 6 And you, son of man,f groan ⌊with shaking hips⌋,g and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. 7 ⌊And then⌋h when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!” ⌊declares⌋i the Lord Yahweh.

8 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,j 9 “Son of man,k prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished. 10 It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, ⌊polished to flash like lightning⌋!l Or will we rejoice?m A rod, my son, is despising every tree.n 11 And he gives it to be polished, ⌊to be seized by the hand⌋.o It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer. 12 Cry and wail, son of man,p for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore ⌊strike your thigh⌋.q 13 For ⌊examine⌋!r And what if also the rod will not be despising?’ ⌊declares⌋s the Lord Yahweh. 14 And you, son of man,t prophesy ⌊and clap your hands⌋.u And the sword will ⌊strike twice⌋;v let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them, 15 so that a heart melts, and the fallen ⌊multiply⌋w at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is graspedx for slaughtering. 16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your ⌊edge⌋y is directed. 17 And also ⌊I myself⌋z will ⌊clap my hands⌋,a and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

a	Literally “to say”
b	Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
c	Hebrew “Because that”
d	Or “against”
e	Hebrew “creature”
f	Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
g	Literally “with destruction of loins”
h	Literally “and it will be”
i	Literally “declaration of”
j	Literally “to say”
k	Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
l	Literally “so that there be for her lightning”
m	Or “be pleased”
n	Or “stick” of correction; Hebrew is uncertain in meaning here
o	Literally “to take hold of in the palm of the hand”
p	Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
q	Literally “strike on the thigh”
r	Literally “it was tested”
s	Literally “declaration of”
t	Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
u	Literally “strike hand to hand”
v	Literally “be doubled”
w	Literally “be made many”
x	Or “polished”
y	Literally “face”
z	Literally “I, I”
a	Literally “strike my hand to my hand”