Ezekiel 21:1-23
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem, and speak prophetically against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;and say to the land of Israel,‘ This is what the Lord says:“ Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out from its sheath against humanity from south to north.So humanity will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword from its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.” ’As for you, son of man, groan with a breaking heart and bitter grief; you shall groan in their sight.And when they say to you,‘ Why are you groaning?’ you shall say,‘ Because of the news, for it is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will go limp, every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will drip with water. Behold, it is coming and it will happen,’ declares the Lord God.”And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Son of man, prophesy and say,‘ This is what the Lord says:’ Say,‘ A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished!Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!’ Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree?And it is given to be polished, so that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to hand it over to the slaughterer.Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are turned over to the sword with My people, therefore slap your thigh.For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will cease to be?” declares the Lord God.“ You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them,so that their hearts will waver, and many fall at all their gates. I have granted the slaughter of the sword. Oh! It is made for striking like lightning, it is sharpened in readiness for slaughter.Prove yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is ordered.I will also clap My hands, and I will satisfy My wrath; I, the Lord, have spoken.”And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,“ Now as for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city.You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem.For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver.Into his right hand came the divination,‘ Jerusalem,’ to set up battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to pile up assault ramps, to build a siege wall.And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; they have sworn solemn oaths. But he makes guilt known, so that they may be seized.
