Chapter 21

Parable of the Sword of the Lord

1 1And the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Son of man, aset your face toward Jerusalem, and 1bspeak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;

3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, aI am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the brighteous and the wicked.

4 “Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against aall flesh from south to north.

5 “Thus all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will anot return to its sheath again.” ’

6 “As for you, son of man, groan with breaking 1heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.

7 “And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the anews that is coming; and bevery heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will 1faint and all knees will 2be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ declares the Lord 3God.”

8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord.’ Say,

‘aA sword, a sword sharpened

And also polished!

10 ‘Sharpened to make a aslaughter,

Polished 1to flash like lightning!’

Or shall we rejoice, the 2rod of My son bdespising every tree?

11 “It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

12 “aCry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the bofficials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh.

13 “For there is a testing; and what if even the 1rod which despises will be no more?” declares the Lord God.

14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands together; and let the sword be adoubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them,

15 that their ahearts may melt, and many bfall at all their cgates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter.

16 “1Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your 2edge is appointed.

17 “I will also clap My hands together, and I will 1aappease My wrath; I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The Instrument of God’s Judgment

18 The word of the Lord came to me saying,

19 “As for you, son of man, 1amake two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And 2make a signpost; 3make it at the head of the way to the city.

20 “You shall 1mark a way for the sword to come to aRabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into bfortified Jerusalem.

21 “For the king of Babylon stands at the 1parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use adivination; he bshakes the arrows, he consults the 2chousehold idols, he looks at the liver.

22 “Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to aset battering rams, to open the mouth 1for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall.

23 “And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; athey have sworn solemn oaths. But he bbrings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

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 deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand.

25 ‘And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose aday has come, in the time of the 1punishment of the end,’

26 thus says the Lord God, ‘Remove the turban and take off the acrown; this will 1no longer be the same. bExalt that which is low and abase that which is high.

27 ‘aA ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until bHe comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.’

28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their areproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it 1to bconsume, that it may be like lightning—

29 while they see for you afalse visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the btime of the 1punishment of the end.

30 ‘aReturn it to its sheath. In the bplace where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

31 ‘I will apour out My indignation on you; I will bblow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, 1cskilled in destruction.

32 ‘You will be 1afuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will bnot be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.’ ”