Ezekiel 21

¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

² ‘Son of man, turn to the right; utter your word towards the south, prophesy against the forest land of the Negeb.

³ Say to the forest of the Negeb, “Hear the word of Yahweh. The Lord Yahweh says this: Listen; I am about to kindle a fire in you that will burn up every green tree as well as every dry one; it will be an unquenchable blaze and every face will be scorched by it from the Negeb to the North.

⁴ All mankind will see that it was I, Yahweh, who kindled it, and it will not be put out.”‘

⁵ I said, ‘Lord Yahweh, they say of me, “What a storyteller this man is!”‘

⁶ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

⁷ ‘Son of man, turn towards Jerusalem, curse their sanctuary and prophesy against the land of Israel.

⁸ Say to the land of Israel, “Yahweh says this: Now I set myself against you; I am about to unsheathe my sword and to kill both upright man and sinner.

⁹ My sword will leave its sheath to kill upright and sinful alike and turn against all mankind from the Negeb to the North.

¹⁰ All mankind is going to learn that I, Yahweh, am the one who has drawn the sword from its sheath; it will not go back again.”

¹¹ ‘Son of man, groan as though your heart were breaking. Bitterly utter your groans where they can see you.

¹² And if they say, “Why these groans?” reply, “The news has made all hearts sink, has numbed hands, troubled spirits, caused knees to tremble. Now it has come, it is here; it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.”‘

¹³ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

¹⁴ ‘Son of man, prophesy. Say, “The Lord says this”. Say: “The sword, the sword sharpened and polished!

¹⁵ Sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning…

¹⁶ polished only to be wielded, sharpened and polished to fit the slaughterer’s hand!

¹⁷ Yes, shout and howl, son of man; it is meant for my people, for all the princes of Israel, doomed like my people to the sword. So beat your breast;

¹⁸ this is no first attempt, and what would happen, were there no haughty sceptre? – it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.

¹⁹ Son of man, prophesy and clap your hands. Let the sword be twice, three times, as cruel, the butcher’s sword, the great sword of slaughter, menacing all around.

²⁰ To make hearts sink and to increase the number of victims I have posted a sword at every gate to flash like lightning, polished for havoc.

²¹ Behind! To the right! To the left! In front!

²² And I too will clap my hands; I will exhaust my wrath. I, Yahweh, have spoken.”‘

²³ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

²⁴ ‘Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come along, making both of them begin from the same country. Put up a signpost where they begin, showing the way to a city,

²⁵ showing the sword the way to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and the way to Judah, to the fortress of Jerusalem.

²⁶ For the king of Babylon has halted at the fork where these two roads diverge, to take the omens. He has shaken the arrows, questioned the teraphim, inspected the liver.

²⁷ Into his right hand the lot for Jerusalem falls; there he must set up battering-rams, give the word for slaughter, raise the war cry, level battering-rams against the gates, cast up earthworks, build entrenchments.

²⁸ The citizens believe that these omens are idle, whatever oaths have been sworn. But he is evidence of their crimes, and these will bring about their capture.

²⁹ And so, thus says the Lord Yahweh. Since you give evidence of your crimes by parading your sins and flaunting your wickedness in everything you do, and since this evidence now produced against you, you will be punished.

³⁰ As for you, prince of Israel, vile criminal on the last of whose crimes the day is about to dawn,

³¹ the Lord Yahweh says this: They will take away your turban and remove your crown; everything will be changed; the low will be high and the high brought low.

³² To ruin, and to ruin on ruin, am I going to bring it, to such ruin as was never known before this man came who is appointed to inflict the punishment which I am determined to impose on it.

³³ ‘Son of man, prophesy and say, “The Lord Yahweh says this: To the Ammonites with their insults, say: The sword, the sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to destroy, to flash like lightning –

³⁴ while you have empty visions and consult lying omens – to slaughter the vile criminals on the last of whose crimes the day is about to dawn.

³⁵ Put it back in the scabbard. In the place where you were created, in the country where you were born, there I will judge you;

³⁶ I am going to discharge my anger on you, blow the flames of my fury against you and hand you over to barbarous men whose trade is destruction.

³⁷ You will be fuel to the fire, your blood will flow through the country, you will leave no memory behind you; for I, Yahweh, have spoken.”‘