Ezekiel 21

1Yahweh's word came to me, saying,

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

3And 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 the righteous and the wicked.

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

5All flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.

6Son of man, groan with your loins breaking and with bitterness; groan before their eyes.

7When they say to you, “Why do you sigh?” you will answer, “Because of the report, for it is coming; every heart will dissolve, all hands will slacken, every spirit will dim, and all knees will flow like water. Behold, it is coming, and it will happen,” says the Lord Yahweh.

8The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

9Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord, Declare: Sword, sword—it has been sharpened, and also polished.

10It is sharpened for slaughter, to slay; polished to flash like lightning—or shall we rejoice? It despises the rod of my son, every tree.

11He has given it to be polished, to be grasped in the palm; it is sharpened, the sword, and it is polished, to deliver it into the hand of the slayer.

12Cry out and wail, son of man, for it has come upon my people, upon all Israel's princes; terrors of the sword have struck my people—strike your thigh therefore.

13For it is a trial; what if even the despising rod shall not be? says the Lord Yahweh.

14You, son of man, prophesy and clap palm to palm, doubling the sword a third time, the sword of the slain. It is the sword of the great slain man, which enters their chambers.

15I have directed the sword's point against all their gates to make their heart dissolve and their stumblings abound: alas! It is made to flash, wrapped for slaughter.

16Go one way or the other, go to the right, set to the left, wherever your face is appointed.

17I will also clap my hand against my hand and bring my wrath to rest; I, Yahweh, have spoken.

18The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

19You, son of man, set two roads for the sword of Babylon's king to reach; both will emerge from one land, and designate a place at the head of the road to the city—designate it.

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

21For Babylon's king stood at the road's fork, where the two paths began, to practice divination—he shook the arrows, inquired of the teraphim, and examined the liver.

22In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to station rams, to open the mouth in slaughter, to raise the voice with shouting, to station rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, to build a fort.

23It will seem to them like a soothsayer's vain divination in their eyes, to those who have sworn solemn oaths to them, but he brings iniquity to remembrance to seize them.

24Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, as your transgressions are laid bare so your sins appear in all your doings; because you are brought to remembrance, you shall be taken by the hand.

25And you, slain and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end.

26Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Remove the turban and exalt the crown; this will not remain thus: exalt the lowly and abase the high.

27I will overturn it, overturn it, overturn it. This too will not endure until he comes to whom the right belongs, and I will give it to him.

28And you, son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the Ammonites and their shame, Sword, sword drawn for slaughter, polished to devour, like lightning.

29While they see false visions for you, while they divine lies to you, to set you upon the necks of the wicked slain whose day has come in the time of the end of their iniquity.

30Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity; I will judge you.

31I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you in the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, craftsmen of destruction.

32You will be food for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.