The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Ezekiel 21
1 Yahweh’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.
3 Tell the land of Israel, ‘Yahweh 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.
4 Seeing 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.
5 All flesh will know that I, Yahweh, 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† and with bitterness.
7 It 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 Yahweh.’ ”
8 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
9 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says:
“A sword! A sword! It is sharpened,
and also polished.
10 It is sharpened that it may make a
slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning.
Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every
tree.
11 It is given to be polished,
that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened.
Yes, it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.
12 Cry and wail, son of man;
for it is on my people.
It is on all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered over to the sword with
my people. Therefore beat your thigh.
13 “For there is a trial. What if even the
rod that condemns will be no more?” says
the Lord Yahweh.
14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword be doubled the third time,
the sword of the fatally wounded.
It is the sword of the great one who is
fatally wounded, which enters into their rooms.
15 I have set the threatening sword against
all their gates, that their heart may melt,
and their stumblings be multiplied.
Ah! It is made as lightning.
It is pointed for slaughter.
16 Gather yourselves together.
Go to the right. Set yourselves in array.
Go to the left, wherever your face is set.
17 I will also strike my hands together,
and I will cause my wrath to rest.
I, Yahweh, have spoken it.”
18 Yahweh’s word came to me again, saying,
19 “Also, you son of man, appoint two
ways, thatthe sword ofthe 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.
20 You shall appoint a way for the sword
to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and
to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
21 For 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.‡ He looked in the liver.
22 In 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.
23 It 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 Yahweh 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,
26 the Lord Yahweh 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.
27 I 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 Yahweh says this concerning the
children of Ammon, and concerning their
reproach: “A sword! A sword is drawn!
It is polished for the slaughter,
to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;
29 while they see for you false visions,
while they divine lies to you,
to lay you on the necks of the wicked who
are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the
iniquity of the end.
30 Cause it to return into its sheath.
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your birth, I will judge
you.
31 I will pour out my indignation on you.
I will blow on you with the fire of my
wrath. I will deliver you into the hand of brutish
men, skill ful to destroy.
32 You will be for fuel to the fire.
Your blood will be in the middle of the
land. You will be remembered no more;
for I, Yahweh, have spoken it.