Babylon, the Sword of God

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.’

12 “Cry and wail, son of man;

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:

16 “Swords q 3at the ready!

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.” ’

A Sword Against the Ammonites

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.’ ”

Sins of Jerusalem

22 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Now, son of man, awill you judge, will you judge bthe bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds cblood in her own midst, that her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You have become guilty by the blood which you have dshed, and have defiled yourself with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and have come to the end of your years; etherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will mock you as 1infamous and full of tumult.

6 “Look, fthe princes of Israel: each one has used his 2power to shed blood in you. 7 In you they have gmade light of father and mother; in your midst they have hoppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the 3fatherless and the widow. 8 You have despised My holy things and iprofaned My Sabbaths. 9 In you are jmen who slander to cause bloodshed; kin you are those who eat on the mountains; in your midst they commit lewdness. 10 In you men luncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are mset apart during their impurity. 11 One commits abomination nwith his neighbor’s wife; oanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; and another in you violates his sister, his father’s pdaughter. 12 In you qthey take bribes to shed blood; ryou take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and shave forgotten Me,” says the Lord God.

13 “Behold, therefore, I tbeat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14 uCan your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? vI, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. 15 wI will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and xremove your filthiness completely from you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then yyou shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

Israel in the Furnace

17 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, zthe house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a afurnace; they have become dross from silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to bmelt it; so I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have cpoured out My fury on you.’ ”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is dnot 4cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 eThe conspiracy of her 5prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they fhave devoured 6people; gthey have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 hHer priests have 7violated My law and iprofaned My holy things; they have not jdistinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her kprinces in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy 8people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 lHer prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, mseeing false visions, and divining nlies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord had not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully ooppress the stranger. 30 pSo I sought for a man among them who would qmake a wall, and rstand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have spoured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed ttheir deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.