| Chapter
21 |
| 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. |
