Ezekiel 21:1-32 - A Vision Of The Avenging Sword Of Yahweh
1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, 2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to [the] sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel. 3 And you must say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut [off] from you [the] righteous and [the] wicked. 4 Because I will cut [off] from you [both] righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to all creatures from south [to] north. 5 And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!" '
6 And you, son of man, groan {with shaking hips}, and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. 7 {And then} when they say to you, 'On account of what [are] you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of [the] report, for it [is] coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go [like] water.' Look! It [is] coming, and it will happen!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
8 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, 9 "Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord,' say, 'A sword, a sword [is] sharpened and [is] also polished. 10 It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, {polished to flash like lightning}! Or will we rejoice? A rod, my son, [is] despising every tree. 11 And he gives it to be polished, {to be seized by the hand}. It is sharpened--a sword--and it [is] polished to give it into [the] hand of [the] killer. 12 Cry and wail, son of man, for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to [the] sword with my people; therefore {strike your thigh}. 13 For {examine}! And what if also [the] rod will not be despising?' {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
14 And you, son of man, prophesy {and clap your hands}. And the sword will {strike twice}; let it happen a third time. It [is] a sword of the dead, [the] sword of the great dead that [is] surrounding them, 15 so that a heart melts, and the fallen {multiply} at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, [and] alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped for slaughtering. 16 Gather together, strike to the right; cause [to] go to the left, where your {edge} [is] directed. 17 And also {I myself} will {clap my hands}, and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken."
18 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying}, 19 "And you, son of man, mark [out] for yourself two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must {both} go out from the same land. And hew [out] a {signpost}; hew [it] at [the] head of [the] road of [the] city. 20 You must mark a road for [the] coming of [the] sword [to] Rabbah of the {Ammonites} and [to] Judah, in Jerusalem [the] fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. {He shakes the arrows}, he inquires with the teraphim, he {examines} the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put [up] battering rams, to open mouth for slaughter, {to raise the battle cry}, to put [up] battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works. 23 And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely in their eyes; {they have sworn oaths for themselves}. But he [will] bring [their] guilt to remembrance [so as] to seize them.
24 "Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear--because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.'
25 And [as for] you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with [the] time of [the] punishment of [the] end,
26 thus says the Lord Yahweh: 'Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things [are] no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high. 27 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also this has not [ever] happened; [it will remain] until the coming of [the one] [to] whom the judgment belongs and I have given it [to him].'
28 And you, son of man, prophesy, and you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the {Ammonites} and concerning their disgrace,' and you must say, 'A sword, a sword [is] drawn for slaughtering; [it is] polished for holding, {for flashing like lightning}, 29 when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give you on [the] neck of [the] profane ones of [the] wicked, {whose day has come}, {the time of final punishment}.
30 Return it to its sheath in [the] place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you! 31 And I will pour out my anger on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will give you into [the] hand of brutal men, skilled craftsmen of destruction. 32 You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.'"