Ezekiel 21

Modern

Literal

God’s Sword of Judgment

¹And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

²“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel

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

³and 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.

³and say to the land of Israel, thus says YHWH: ‘Behold, I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and I will cut off from you the righteous one and the wicked one!

⁴Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

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

⁵Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

⁵And all flesh will know that I, YHWH, have drawn My sword from its sheath; it will not return anymore!’

⁶But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief.

⁶And you, son of man, groan with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness groan before their eyes.

⁷And 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.”

⁷And it will come to pass when they say to you, ‘For what are you sighing?’ That you will answer, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, and all hands will become feeble, and every spirit will faint, and all knees will turn to water.’ Behold, it is coming, and it will come to pass! An utterance of the Lord YHWH.”

⁸Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

⁹“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:

‘A sword, a sword,

sharpened and polished—

⁹“Son of man, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord: Say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened, also polished,

¹⁰it is sharpened for the slaughter,

polished to flash like lightning!

Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son?

The sword despises every such stick.

¹⁰it is sharpened in order to slaughter a slaughter; it is polished in order that it may become lightning. Or should we rejoice in the scepter of My son? It is despising every such stick?

¹¹The 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.

¹¹And He has given it to be polished, to grasp it in the palm; the sword is sharpened and it is polished, to be given it into the hand of the one slaying.

¹²Cry out and wail,

O son of man,

for the sword is wielded against My people;

it is against all the princes of Israel!

They are tossed to the sword with My people;

therefore strike your thigh.^a

¹²Cry and wail, O son of man! For it shall be upon my people; it is against all the princes of Israel! They are cast to the sword they will be upon My people! Therefore strike upon your thigh.

¹³Surely testing will come!

And what if even the scepter,

which the sword despises,

does not continue?’

declares the Lord GOD.

¹³For there is a testing; and what if even the scepter it is despising does not continue!’ An utterance of the Lord YHWH.

¹⁴‘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 of great slaughter

closing in on every side!

¹⁴‘And you, son of man, prophesy and strike together the palm, and let the sword come twice—a third time—the sword of the slain! It is the sword of great slaughter that is surrounding them,

¹⁵So 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.

¹⁵in order to melt the heart and to increase those stumbling. Against all their gates I have appointed a sword for slaughter. Ah, it is made as lightning; it is grasped for slaughter!

¹⁶Slash to the right;

set your blade to the left—

wherever your blade is directed.

¹⁶Slash, thrust right, set it, thrust left, wherever your face is appointed!

¹⁷I too will strike My hands together,

and I will satisfy My wrath.’

I, the LORD, have spoken.”

¹⁷And I also will strike My palm to My palm, and My fury I will cause to rest.’ I, YHWH, have spoken.”

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

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

¹⁹“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.

¹⁹“And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways to go for the sword of the king of Babylon! From one land they will come forth, the two of them, and create a signpost—at the head of the way to the city create it.

²⁰Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

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

²¹For 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.

²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to divine with divination; he shakes the arrows, he inquires of the teraphim, he looks at the liver.

²²In 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 direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

²²In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to set up battering rams, to open the mouth with shattering, to lift high the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, and to build a wall.

²³It 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.

²³And it will be to them like an empty divination in their eyes, those having sworn oaths with them; and he will call to remembrance their guilt, to take them captive.

²⁴Therefore 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.

²⁴Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in your transgressions being uncovered, to cause your sins to be seen in all your deeds—because of your being remembered, you shall be taken in hand.

²⁵And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,

the day has come for your final punishment.’

²⁵And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, for whom his day has come, in the time of your punishment at the end—

²⁶This 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.

²⁶thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘Turn aside the turban and lift off the crown; this will no longer be the same! The low make high, and the high make low.

²⁷A ruin, a ruin,

I will make it a ruin!

And it will not be restored

until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs,

to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’^a

²⁷A ruin, a ruin, I will make it a ruin! And it will not be until He comes whose it is; to Him I have assigned the judgment.

²⁸Now 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—

²⁸And you, son of man, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord YHWH concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their scorn; and you shall say: ‘A sword, a sword is opened for slaughter! Polished for consuming, in order to be like lightning.

²⁹while 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.

²⁹In seeing falsehood for you, in divining to you a lie, to put you on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰Return the sword to its sheath!

In the place where you were created,

in the land of your origin,

I will judge you.

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

³¹I will pour out My anger upon you;

I will breathe the fire of My fury against you;

I will hand you over to brutal men,

skilled in destruction.

³¹And I will pour out on you My anger; with the fire of My wrath I will blow against you, and I will give you into the hands of brutish men, craftsmen of destruction.

³²You will be fuel for the fire.

Your blood will stain your own land.

You will not be remembered,

for I, the LORD, have spoken.’”

³²For the fire you will be as food; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will not be remembered! Indeed I, YHWH, have spoken.’”