Ezekiel 21

1The word of the LORD came to me: 2Son of man, turn to face Jerusalem. Preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel. 3Say to the land of Israel, The LORD says this: I am against you. I will draw my sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous and wicked from among you. 4Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will come out of its sheath against everyone from south to north. 5Then everyone will know that I, the LORD, have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not go back again.

6As for you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a body doubled over and with bitter grief. 7And when they ask you, “Why do you groan?” answer them, “Because of the news, for it is on its way. Every heart will melt, every hand will go limp, every spirit will grow faint, and every knee will be weak as water. It is coming! It will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

8The word of the LORD came to me: 9Son of man, prophesy and say, The Lord says this: Say: A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished! 10It is sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning. Or should we rejoice? The rod of my son despises every tree. 11The sword is handed over for polishing, ready for the hand to grasp; it is sharpened and polished, to be put into the hand of the killer. 12Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people, against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with my people. So strike your thigh in grief. 13For it is a time of testing. And what if even the rod that despises is no more? declares the Lord GOD.

14So you, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands. Let the sword strike twice, even three times, the sword for the slain; it is the sword for the great slaughter, which closes in on them. 15so that hearts may melt and many may fall. At all their gates I have set the point of the sword. Ah! It is made to flash like lightning, drawn for slaughter. 16Slash to the right; turn to the left, wherever your edge is aimed! 17I too will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my wrath. I, the LORD, have spoken.

18The word of the LORD came to me: 19As for you, son of man, mark out two roads that the sword of the king of Babylon may take, both of them starting from one country. Carve a signpost, and set it where the road to a city begins. 20Mark one road for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another to Judah and to Jerusalem, the fortified city. 21For the king of Babylon has stopped at the fork in the road, where the two roads begin, to look for an omen. He shakes the arrows, consults his household gods and examines the liver. 22The omen for Jerusalem falls into his right hand: to set up battering rams, to give the order to kill, to raise the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a ramp and to build a siege wall. 23To the people of Jerusalem it will seem a false omen, since they have sworn solemn oaths. But he will bring their guilt to mind, and they will be captured.

24Therefore the Lord GOD says this: You have brought your guilt to mind by your open rebellion, so that your sins show in everything you do. Because you have been called to account, you will be taken captive.

25As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, your day has come, the time of final punishment.

26The Lord GOD says this: Take away the turban and lift off the crown! Things will not stay as they are. Raise up the low and bring down the high. 27A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Even this will be no more, until he comes to whom the right belongs, and I will give it to him.

28And you, son of man, prophesy and say, The Lord GOD says this about the Ammonites and their taunts. Say: A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to devour and to flash like lightning, 29while they see false visions for you and divine lies for you, to lay you on the necks of the slain, the wicked, whose day has arrived, the time of their final punishment. 30Put the sword back in its sheath! Where you were created, in the land of your birth, there I will judge you. 31I will pour out my indignation on you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath. I will hand you over to brutal men, skilled at destroying. 32You will be fuel for the fire, and your blood will be spilled in the land. You will be remembered no more, for I, the LORD, have spoken.