Ezekiel 21

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

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the soil of Israel.

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

3 And you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I will cast my sword from its sheath, and I will slay the just and the impious among you.

Say to the land of Israel, 'Yahweh says this: Behold! I am against you! I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off both the righteous person and the wicked person from you!

4 But in as much as I have slain among you the just and the impious, for this reason my sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.

In order for me to cut off both the righteous and the wicked from you, my sword will go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.

5 So may all flesh know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath irrevocably.

Then all flesh will know that I, Yahweh, have drawn my sword from its sheath. It will no longer hold back!'

6 And as for you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.

As for you, son of man, groan as your loins break! In bitterness groan before their eyes!

7 And when they will say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say: ‘On behalf of the report, for it is approaching. And every heart will waste away, and every hand will be broken, and every spirit will be weakened, and water will flow across every knee.’ Behold, it is approaching and it will happen, says the Lord God.”

Then it will happen that they will ask you, 'For what reason are you groaning?' Then you will say, 'Because of the news that is coming, for every heart will faint away, and every hand will falter! Every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will flow like water. Behold! It is coming and it will be like this!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”

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

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

9 “Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Speak: The sword! The sword has been sharpened and polished!

“Son of man, prophesy and say, 'The Lord says this: “Say: A sword! A sword! It will be sharpened and polished!

10 It has been sharpened, so that it may cut down victims! It has been polished, so that it may shine! You are disturbing the scepter of my son. You have cut down every tree.

It will be sharpened in order to engage in great slaughter! It will be polished in order to be like lightning! Should we rejoice in my son's scepter? The coming sword hates every such rod!

11 And I have sent it to be made smooth, so that it may be handled. This sword has been sharpened, and it has been polished, so that it may be in the hand of the one who kills.

So the sword will be given to be polished, and then to be grasped by the hand! The sword is sharpened and it is polished and it is to be given into the hand of the one who kills!”'”

12 Cry out and wail, O son of man! For this has been done among my people, this is among all the leaders of Israel, who have fled. They have been handed over to the sword, with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh,

Call for help and lament, son of man! For that sword has come against my people! It is against all the leaders of Israel. They are thrown against the sword with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh!

13 for it has been tested. And this one, when he will have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.

For there is a trial, but what if the scepter does not last?—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.

14 You therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike hand against hand, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled. This is the sword of the great slaughter, which causes them to be utterly stupefied,

Now you, son of man, prophesy and hit your two hands together, for the sword will attack even a third time! A sword for the ones to be slaughtered! It is a sword for the many to be slaughtered, piercing them everywhere!

15 and to waste away in heart, and which multiplies ruin. At all their gates, I have presented the consternation of the sword, which has been sharpened and polished so as to shine, which has been dressed for the slaughter.

In order to melt their hearts and to multiply their fallen, I have set the sword for slaughter at all their gates. Ah! It is made like lightning, it is grasped for slaughter.

16 Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.

You, sword! Strike to the right! Strike to the left! Go wherever your face is turned.

17 And then I will clap hand against hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

For I will also hit my two hands together, and then I will bring my fury to rest! I, Yahweh, declare it!”

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

The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,

19 “And as for you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may approach. Both shall go forth from one land. And with a hand, he will grasp and cast lots; he will cast at the head of the way of the community.

“Now you, son of man, assign two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. The two roads will start in the same land, and a signpost will mark one of them as leading to a city.

20 You shall appoint a way, so that the sword may approach to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, or to Judah, into Jerusalem, greatly fortified.

Mark one road for the Babylonian army to come to Rabbah, the city of the Ammonites. Mark the other to lead the army to Judah and the city of Jerusalem, which is fortified.

21 For the king of Babylon stood at the fork, at the head of the two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows; he inquired of idols, and he consulted entrails.

For the king of Babylon will stop at the crossroads, at the junction, in order to practice divination. He will shake some arrows and ask direction from some idols and he will examine a liver.

22 To his right was set the divination over Jerusalem, to place battering rams so as to open a mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice of wailing, to place battering rams opposite the gates, to cast up a rampart, to build fortifications.

In his right hand will be an omen about Jerusalem, to set battering rams against it, to open his mouth to order the slaughter, to sound a war cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect siege towers.

23 And he shall be, in their eyes, like someone consulting an oracle in vain, or imitating the leisure of Sabbaths. But he will call to mind iniquities, so that it will be captured.

It will seem to be a useless omen in the eyes of the ones in Jerusalem, those who had sworn an oath to the Babylonians! But the king will accuse them of violating their treaty in order to besiege them!

24 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have been remembered in your iniquities, and you have revealed your betrayals, and your sins have appeared within all your plans, because, I say, you have been remembered, you will be captured by a hand.

Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, making your transgressions to be revealed, so that in all your actions your sins will be seen— because you have done this you will be taken in hand.

25 But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:

As for you, profane and wicked ruler of Israel, whose day of punishment has come, and whose time of committing iniquity has ended,

26 Thus says the Lord God: Take away the diadem, remove the crown. Is this not what has exalted the lowly one, and brought low the sublime one?

the Lord Yahweh says this to you: Remove the turban and take off the crown! Things will no longer be the same! Exalt the lowly and humble the exalted!

27 Iniquity, iniquity, iniquity I will make it. And this was not done until the one arrived to whom judgment belongs, and I will hand it over to him.

A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until the one comes who is assigned to execute judgment.

28 And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their disgrace, and you shall say: O sword, O sword, unsheathe yourself so as to slay; polish yourself so as to kill and to shine,

So you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'The Lord Yahweh says this to the people of Ammon concerning their coming disgrace: A sword, a sword is drawn! It is sharpened for the slaughter in order to devour, so it will be like lightning!

29 while they look upon you in vain, and they divine lies, so that you may be given over to the necks of the wounded impious, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity.

While prophets see empty visions for you, while they perform rituals to come up with lies for you, this sword will lie on the necks of the wicked who are about to be killed, whose day of punishment has come and whose time of iniquity is about to end.

30 Be returned to your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.

Return the sword to its sheath. In the place of your creation, in the land of your origin, I will judge you!

31 And I will pour out upon you my indignation. In the fire of my fury, I will fan you, and I will give you over to the hands of cruel men, who have devised destruction.

I will pour out my indignation on you! I will fan the fire of my rage against you and put you into the hand of cruel men, craftsmen of destruction!

32 You will be food for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will be delivered to oblivion. For I, the Lord, have spoken.”

You will become fuel for the fire! Your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh have declared this!'”