Ezekiel Chapter 21 — The Song of the Sword

¹The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

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

³Tell the land of Israel, ‘The LORD says: “Behold, I am against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

⁴Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword will go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.

⁵All flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn my sword out of its sheath. It will not return any more.” ’

⁶“Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart*literally, the breaking of your thighs and with bitterness.

⁷It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! Every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord GOD.’ ”

⁸The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The LORD says:

¹⁰It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter.

¹¹It is given to be polished,

¹²Cry and wail, son of man;

¹³“For there is a trial. What if even the rod that condemns will be no more?” says the Lord GOD.

¹⁴“You therefore, son of man, prophesy,

¹⁵I have set the threatening sword against all their gates,

¹⁶Gather yourselves together.

¹⁷I will also strike my hands together,

¹⁸The LORD’s word came to me again, saying,

¹⁹“Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. They both will come out of one land, and mark out a place. Mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.

²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shook the arrows back and forth. He consulted the teraphim.†teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property. He looked in the liver.

²²In his right hand was the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, and to build forts.

²³It will be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.

²⁴“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you will be taken with the hand.

²⁵“ ‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

²⁶the Lord GOD says: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown. This will not be as it was. Exalt that which is low, and humble that which is high.

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also will be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it.” ’

²⁸“You, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord GOD says this concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach:

²⁹while they see for you false visions,

³⁰Cause it to return into its sheath.

³¹I will pour out my indignation on you.

³²You will be for fuel to the fire.