Ezekiel 20:45–21:32
45 Furthermore the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 46 q“Son of man, set your face toward the south; 9preach against the south and prophesy against the forest land, the 1South, 47 and say to the forest of the South, ‘Hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, rI will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour severy green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces tfrom the south to the north shall be scorched by it. 48 All flesh shall see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” ’ ”
49 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak uparables?’ ”
21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 a“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, bpreach 1against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am cagainst you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both drighteous and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh efrom south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it fshall not return anymore.” ’ 6 gSigh therefore, son of man, with 2a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, hall hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.”
8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say:
i‘A sword, a sword is sharpened
And also polished!
10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!
Should we then make mirth?
It despises the scepter of My son,
As it does all wood.
11 And He has given it to be polished,
That it may be handled;
This sword is sharpened, and it is polished
To be given into the hand of jthe slayer.’
For it will be against My people,
Against all the princes of Israel.
Terrors including the sword will be against My people;
Therefore kstrike your thigh.
13 “Because it is la testing,
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
mThe scepter shall be no more,”
says the Lord God.
14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And nstrike your hands together.
The third time let the sword do double damage.
It is the sword that slays,
The sword that slays the great men,
That enters their oprivate chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That the heart may melt and many may stumble.
Ah! pIt is made bright;
It is grasped for slaughter:
Thrust right!
Set your blade!
Thrust left—
Wherever your 4edge is ordered!
17 “I also will rbeat My fists together,
And sI will cause My fury to rest;
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 19 “And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to tRabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the 5images, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to ulift the voice with shouting, vto set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who whave sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.
25 ‘Now to you, O xprofane, wicked prince of Israel, ywhose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord God:
“Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
zExalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
27 6Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
aIt shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to bHim.” ’
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God cconcerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say:
‘A sword, a sword is drawn,
Polished for slaughter,
For consuming, for flashing—
29 While they dsee false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain
eWhose day has come,
Whose iniquity shall end.
30 ‘Return fit to its sheath.
gI will judge you
In the place where you were created,
hIn the land of your 7nativity.
31 I will ipour out My indignation on you;
I will jblow against you with the fire of My wrath,
And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to kdestroy.
32 You shall be fuel for the fire;
Your blood shall be in the midst of the land.
lYou shall not be remembered,
For I the Lord have spoken.’ ”