CHAPTER 21
“Son
of man,
set
your face
toward
Jerusalem
and preach
against
the sanctuaries.
Prophesy
against
the land
of Israel
and tell
her
that this is what
the LORD
says:
‘I am against you,
and I will draw
My sword
from its sheath
and cut off
from you
both the righteous
and the wicked.
Because
I will cut off
both the righteous
and the wicked,
My sword
will be
unsheathed
against
everyone
from south
to north.
Then all
flesh
will know
that
I,
the LORD,
have taken
My sword
from its sheath,
not
to return it
again.’
And when
they ask,
‘Why
are you
groaning?’
you are to say,
‘Because of
the news
that
is coming.
Every
heart
will melt,
and every
hand
will go limp.
Every
spirit
will faint,
and every
knee
will turn to
water.’
Yes,
it is coming
and it will surely happen,
declares
the Lord
GOD."
“Son
of man,
prophesy
and tell them
that this is what
the Lord
says:
‘A sword,
a sword,
sharpened
and
polished—
it is sharpened
for
the slaughter,
polished
to flash like lightning!
Should we rejoice
in the scepter
of My son?
The sword despises
every
tree.
The sword
is appointed
to be polished,
to be grasped
in the hand.
It
is sharpened
and
polished,
to be placed
in the hand
of the slayer.
Cry out
and wail,
O son
of man,
for
it
is
against My people;
it
is against all
the princes
of Israel!
They are
tossed
to
the sword
with
My people;
therefore
strike
your thigh.
Surely
a trial will come!
And what
if
even
the scepter,
which the sword despises,
does not
continue?
declares
the Lord
GOD.
So then,
son
of man,
prophesy
and strike
your hands together.
Let the sword
strike two times,
even three.
It
is a sword
that slays,
a sword
that slays
the great—
it surrounds them!
So that
their hearts
may melt
and many
may stumble,
I have appointed
at
all
their gates
a sword
for slaughter.
Yes,
it is ready
to flash like lightning;
it is drawn
for slaughter.
“Now you,
son
of man,
mark out
two
roads
for the sword
of the king
of Babylon
to take,
both
starting
from the same
land.
And make
a signpost
where the road
branches off
to each city.
Mark out
one road
for the sword
to come
against Rabbah
of the Ammonites,
and another
against Judah
into fortified
Jerusalem.
For
the king
of Babylon
stands
at
the fork
in the road,
at the junction
of the two
roads,
to seek
an omen:
He shakes
the arrows,
he consults
the idols,
he examines
the liver.
In his right hand
appears
the portent
for Jerusalem,
where he is to set up
battering rams,
to call for
the slaughter,
to lift
a battle cry,
to set
the battering rams
against
the gates,
to build
a ramp,
and to erect
a siege wall.
It will seem
like
a false
omen
to the eyes
of those who have sworn
allegiance to him,
but it
will draw attention
to their guilt
and take them captive.
Therefore,
this is what
the Lord
GOD
says:
‘Because
you have drawn attention
to your guilt,
exposing
your transgressions,
so that your sins
are revealed
in all
your deeds—
because
you have come to remembrance,
you shall be taken
in hand.
This is what
the Lord
GOD
says:
‘Remove
the turban,
and take off
the crown.
Things
will not remain as they are:
Exalt
the lowly
and bring low
the exalted.
A ruin,
a ruin,
I will make it
a ruin!
And
it
will not
be restored
until
He comes
to whom
it belongs,
to whom I have assigned
judgment.’
Now
prophesy,
son
of man,
and declare
that this is what
the Lord
GOD
says
concerning
the Ammonites
and their contempt:
‘A sword!
A sword
is drawn
for slaughter,
polished
to consume,
to
flash like lightning.
While they offer false
visions
for you
and lying
divinations
about you,
to be placed
on
the necks
of the wicked
who are slain,
whose
day
has come—
the time
of their final punishment.
Return the sword
to
its sheath!
In the place
where
you were created,
in the land
of your origin,
I will judge
you.
I will pour out
My anger
upon you;
I will breath
the fire
of My fury
against you;
I will hand you over to
brutal
men,
skilled
in destruction.
You will be
fuel
for the fire.
Your blood
will stain
your own
land.
You will not
be remembered,
for
I,
the LORD,
have spoken.’”