Ezekiel 21:1-22 ▼

1 And the word of YHWH came to me, saying:

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

3 and say to the land of Israel, thus says YHWH: ‘Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and I will cut off from you the righteous one and the wicked one!

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

5 And all flesh will know that I, YHWH, have drawn My sword from its sheath; it will not return anymore!’

6 And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness groan before their eyes.

7 And it will come to pass when they say to you, ‘For what are you sighing?’ That you will answer, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, and all hands will become feeble, and every spirit will faint, and all knees will turn to water.’ Behold, it is coming, and it will come to pass! An utterance of the Lord YHWH.”

8 And the word of YHWH came to me, saying:

9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord: Say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened, also polished,

10 it is sharpened in order to slaughter a slaughter; it is polished in order that it may become lightning. Or should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? It is despising every such stick?

11 And He has given it to be polished, to grasp it in the palm; the sword is sharpened and it is polished, to be given it into the hand of the one slaying.

12 Cry and wail, O son of man! For it shall be upon my people; it is against all the princes of Israel! They are cast to the sword they will be upon My people! Therefore strike upon your thigh.

13 For there is a testing; and what if even the scepter it is despising does not continue!’ An utterance of the Lord YHWH.

14 ‘And you, son of man, prophesy and strike together the palm, and let the sword come twice—a third time—the sword of the slain! It is the sword of great slaughter that is surrounding them,

15 in order to melt the heart and to increase those stumbling. Against all their gates I have appointed a sword for slaughter. Ah, it is made as lightning; it is grasped for slaughter!

16 Slash, thrust right, set it, thrust left, wherever your face is appointed!

17 And I also will strike My palm to My palm, and My fury I will cause to rest.’ I, YHWH, have spoken.”

18 And the word of YHWH came to me, saying:

19 “And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways to go for the sword of the king of Babylon! From one land they will come forth, the two of them, and create a signpost—at the head of the way to the city create it.

20 Appoint a way for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to divine with divination; he shakes the arrows, he inquires of the teraphim, he looks at the liver.

22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to set up battering rams, to open the mouth with shattering, to lift high the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, and to build a wall.