Ezekiel

The book of the prophet Ezekiel, chapter 21, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 21 New English Translation

The Sword of Judgment

   1 (6) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, turn toward Jerusalem and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: Look, 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 will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from the south to the north. 5 Then everyone will know that I am the LORD, who drew my sword from its sheath - it will not be sheathed again!'
   6 "And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart and bitterness; groan before their eyes. 7 When they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you will reply, 'Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.' Pay attention - it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign LORD."
   8 The word of the LORD came to me: 9 "Son of man, prophesy and say: 'This is what the LORD says: "'A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.
   10 It is sharpened for slaughter, it is polished to flash like lightning! "'Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree!
   11 "'He gave it to be polished, to be grasped in the hand - the sword is sharpened, it is polished - giving it into the hand of the executioner.
   12 Cry out and moan, son of man, for it is wielded against my people; against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people. Therefore, strike your thigh.
   13 "'For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? declares the sovereign LORD.'
   14 "And you, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times! It is a sword for slaughter, a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
   15 So hearts melt with fear and many stumble. At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter. Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!
   16 Cut sharply on the right! Swing to the left, wherever your edge is appointed to strike.
   17 I too will clap my hands together, I will exhaust my rage; I the LORD have spoken."
   18 The word of the LORD came to me: 19 "You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon's sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city. 20 Mark out the routes for the sword to take: "Rabbah of the Ammonites" and "Judah with Jerusalem in it." 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: He shakes arrows, he consults idols, he examines animal livers. 22 Into his right hand comes the portent for Jerusalem - to set up battering rams, to give the signal for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall. 23 But those in Jerusalem will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, but the king of Babylon will accuse them of violations in order to seize them.
   24 "Therefore this is what the sovereign LORD says: 'Because you have brought up your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force.
   25 "'As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of final punishment,
   26 this is what the sovereign LORD says: Tear off the turban, take off the crown! Things must change! Exalt the lowly, bring down the proud!
   27 A total ruin I will make it! It will come to an end when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.'
   28 "As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'This is what the sovereign LORD says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; say: "'A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning -
   29 while seeing false visions for you and reading lying omens for you - to place that sword on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of final punishment.
   30 Return it to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in your native land, I will judge you.
   31 I will pour out my anger on you; the fire of my fury I will blow on you. I will hand you over to brutal men, who are skilled in destruction.
   32 You will become fuel for the fire - your blood will stain the middle of the land; you will no longer be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.'"

King James Version

   1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
   2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
   3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
   4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
   5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
   6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
   7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
   8 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
   9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:
   10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.
   11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
   12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
   13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
   14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.
   15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
   16 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.
   17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
   18 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
   19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
   20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
   21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
   22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.
   23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.
   24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
   25 ¶ And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
   26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
   27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
   28 ¶ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:
   29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
   30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
   31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
   32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.