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word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 Say to the land of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am against you. I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against all flesh from the south to the north; 5 and all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword from its sheath; it will not return again” ’.
6 “Groan therefore, O son of man! Groan right before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitter grief. 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall answer, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will become feeble; every spirit will become faint and every knee will become as weak as water’. Behold, it is coming and it will certainly take place,” says the Lord God.
8 The word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says!’ You are to proclaim:
‘A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished—
10 it is sharpened for slaughter,
and polished to flash like lightning!
Should we rejoice in the sceptre of My son Judah?
The sword despises every such piece of wood.
11 ‘The sword is given to be polished,
and then grasped in the hand.
It is sharpened, it is polished,
to be put in the hand of the slayer’.
12 “Cry out and wail, son of man,
for the sword will be against My people,
and against all the princes of Israel.
They will be given over to the sword,
along with My people.
Ah! Strike the thigh in grief!
13 “The trial will surely come,
and what if the sword despises
even the sceptre of Judah?
The sceptre will be no more,”
says the Lord God.
14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy,
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike two times,
even three times.
It is the sword for slaughter,
a sword for great massacre,
pressing on them from every side.
15 I have set the point of the sword
at every gate for slaughter,
so their hearts will melt
and many will stumble.
Ah! It is ready to flash like lightning,
it is grasped for slaughter.
16 “Slash to the right,
slash to the left—
wherever your blade is directed!
17 I will strike My hands together,
and I will satisfy My wrath.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 19 “Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of Babylon to take, both of them starting from the same land. Make a signpost and place it where the road branches off to the city. 20 Mark out one road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another to Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the junction in the road, at the fork of the two roads, to practice divination: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver. 22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to give the command for slaughter, to raise the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to construct siege towers. 23 It will seem like false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to the Babylonians, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.
24 “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have brought to mind your guilt so that your transgressions are exposed, revealing your sins in that you do—because you have done this, you will be taken captive by them.
25 ‘Now to you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,
whose day has come,
for your time of final punishment’.”
26 ‘This is what the Lord God says:
Remove the turban, and take off the crown,
for things will not remain as they are;
Exalt the humble,
and humble the exalted.
27 A ruin, a ruin,
I will make it a ruin!
It will be not be restored,
until He comes unto whom it rightfully belongs;
and I will give it to Him.”
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their contempt’. You are to proclaim:
‘A sword, a sword, drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, to flash like lightning.
29 While they offer false visions for you,
and they give lying divinations about you,
it will be laid on the necks of the wicked
who are to be slain;
those whose day has come,
for the time of their final punishment.
30 ‘Return the sword to its sheath!
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your origin
I will judge you.
31 I will pour out My indignation upon you,
and I will blow the fire of My wrath against you.
I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in destruction.
32 You will be fuel for the fire;
your blood will spill in the midst of the land.
You will not be remembered,
for I, the Lord, have spoken’.”