Ezekiel 21

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

2Son of man, set your face toward the south, and preach toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the Negeb.

3And say to the forest of the Negev, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am kindling a fire in you, and it will consume in you every green tree and every dry tree. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched.’

4And all flesh will see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it will not be quenched.

5Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not a speaker of parables?’”

6And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

7Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel.

8And say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both righteous and wicked.’

9Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.

10And all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.

11And you, son of man, groan with breaking loins, and in bitterness you shall groan before their eyes.

12And it shall be, when they say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it is coming.’ Then every heart will melt, all hands will grow weak, every spirit will faint, and all knees will run with water. Look, it is coming, and it will happen, declares the Lord GOD.

13And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying:

14Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: Say, “A sword, a sword, sharpened and also polished.”’

15So that it may slaughter a slaughter, it is sharpened; so that it may have a flash, it is polished. Or shall we rejoice? The scepter of my son despises every tree.

16It is given to be polished, to be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened—the sword—and it is polished, to put it into the hand of a slayer.

17Cry out and wail, son of man, for it has come upon my people; it is upon all the princes of Israel. They are given over to the sword along with my people; therefore strike your thigh.

18For there is a testing; and what if even the scepter that despises will not remain? declares the Lord GOD.

19And you, son of man, prophesy and strike palm to palm, and let the sword be doubled a third time—the sword of the slain. It is the sword of the great slain one, the one that presses in on them.

20so that the heart may melt and the stumbling blocks may be many. At all their gates I have set the flash of the sword. Ah! It is made for lightning, drawn for slaughter.

21Gather yourself; go to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is appointed.

22And I too will strike my hands together, and I will satisfy my wrath. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

23And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

24And you, son of man, set for yourself two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come by; both of them shall go out from one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the road to the city.

25You shall set a road for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in fortified Jerusalem.

26For the king of Babylon stands at the mother of the road, at the head of the two roads, to practice divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the teraphim, he examines the liver.

27In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem: to set battering rams, to open the mouth with slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.

28And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn sworn oaths to them, but he brings guilt to remembrance, so that they may be captured.

29Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have brought your guilt to remembrance by uncovering your transgressions, so that your sins are seen in all your deeds, because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized by the hand.

30And you, slain wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come at the time of the punishment of the end,

31Thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban, and take off the crown. This will not remain the same: exalt the lowly, and humble the exalted.

32A ruin, a ruin, a ruin—I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes whose right it is, and I will give it to him.

33And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach’: And you shall say, ‘A sword, a sword, drawn for slaughter, polished for devouring, so that it flashes like lightning.’

34while they see false visions for you and divine lies for you, to place you on the necks of the slain wicked, whose day has come at the time of the punishment of the end.

35Return to your sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origins, I will judge you.

36And I will pour out my indignation on you; with the fire of my wrath I will blow on you, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, craftsmen of destruction.

37You will be fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.