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

2“Son of man, set your face toward Yerushalayim, and drop word against the set-apart places, and prophesy against the land of Yisra’ĕl.

3“And you shall say to the land of Yisra’ĕl, ‘Thus said יהוה, “See, I am against you, and I shall draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wrong.

4“Because I shall cut off from you the righteous and the wrong, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north.

5“And all flesh shall know that I, יהוה, have drawn My sword out of its sheath, not to turn back again.” ’

6“And you, son of man, sigh with a breaking of loins, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes.

7“And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the report that is coming. And every heart shall melt, and all hands shall go limp, and every spirit become faint, and all knees be weak as water. See, it is coming, and it shall be,’ declares the Master יהוה.”

8And the word of יהוה came to me, saying,

9“Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say, ‘Thus said יהוה! “Say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished!

10‘It is sharpened to make a slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning!’ Or shall we rejoice? My son, you have despised the rod, every stick!

11“And He has given it to be polished, to be taken by the hand. This sword is sharpened and polished, to be given into the hand of the slayer.

12“Cry and wail, son of man, for it shall be on My people, on all the leaders of Yisra’ĕl. They shall be delivered to the sword together with My people, therefore strike your thigh.

13“For it is a trier, and what if it even despises the rod? Shall it not be?” declares the Master יהוה.

14“And you, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together. And let the sword come down twice, thrice, the sword for the slain. It is the sword of the slain, the great one, which surrounds them.

15“I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, to melt the heart and that the overthrown be many. Ah! It is made like lightning, keen for slaughter.

16“Sharpen yourself on the right, set yourself on the left, wherever your edge is appointed!

17“And I too, I shall strike My hands together and cause My wrath to rest. I, יהוה, have spoken.”

18And the word of יהוה came to me again, saying,

19“And you, son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the sovereign of Baḇel to go, both of them coming from one land. And place a signpost, put it at the head of the way to the city.

20“Appoint a way for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Yehuḏah, into the walled Yerushalayim.

21“For the sovereign of Baḇel shall stand at the parting of the way, at the fork of the two ways, to practise divination. He shall shake the arrows, he shall ask the household idols, he shall look at the liver.

22“In his right hand shall be the divination for Yerushalayim: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, to build a wall.

23“And it shall be to them as a false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths to them. But he is bringing their crookedness to remembrance, so that they are taken.

24“Therefore thus said the Master יהוה, ‘Because you have made your crookedness to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that your sins are seen in all your deeds. Because you have been remembered, you are taken by hand.

25‘And to you, O profane, wrong one, leader of Yisra’ĕl, whose day has come, in the time of the crookedness of the end,

26thus said the Master יהוה, ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown! This shall not remain! Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.

27‘Overthrown, overthrown, I make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes to whom it rightly belongs – and I shall give it!’

28“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus said the Master יהוה concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach.’ And you shall say, ‘A sword, a sword, drawn for slaughter, polished to the utmost like lightning –

29while they see false visions for you, while they divine a lie to you – to put you on the necks of the profaned ones, the wrong ones whose day has come, in the time of the crookedness of the end.

30‘Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I shall judge you.

31‘And I shall pour out My displeasure on you, blow against you with the fire of My wrath, and shall give you into the hands of beastly men, skilled to destroy.

32‘You are to be fuel for the fire, your blood to be in the midst of the land. You are not to be remembered, for I יהוה have spoken.’ ”