Chapter 21, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the
south to the north, that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn forth my
sword out of his sheath.
It shall not return any more.
Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins,
and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
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.
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy, and say,
Thus saith the Lord, say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished.
It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter.
It is furbished that it may glitter.
Should we then make mirth?
It contendeth the rod of my son as every tree.
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.
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, because it is a trial.
And what if the sword contemn even the rod?
It shall be no more, saith the Lord God.
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.
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.
Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand or on the left, whithersoever
thy face is set.
I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest.
I, the Lord, have said it.
The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, 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.
Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in
Jerusalem, the defenced.
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.
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.
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.
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.
And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall
have an end.
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 debase him that is high.
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.
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.
Whilst they see vanity unto thee, whilst they divine a lie unto thee,
to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain of the wicked, whose days come,
when their iniquity shall have an end, 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,
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 skillful to destroy.
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.