Eze 21 | ESV | STEP | The word of the Lord came to me:

1 ^{▼▼Ch 21:6 in Hebrew} The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^b“Son of man, ^cset your face toward Jerusalem and ^dpreach against the sanctuaries. ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts, compare Septuagint, Syriac against their sanctuary} Prophesy against the land of Israel 3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: ^fBehold, I am against you and will draw ^gmy sword from its sheath and ^hwill cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 ⁱAnd all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn ^jmy sword from its sheath; ^kit shall not be sheathed again.

6 “As for you, son of man, ^lgroan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, ^mgroan before their eyes. 7 ⁿAnd when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news ^othat it is coming. ^pEvery heart will melt, and ^qall hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and ^rall knees will be weak as water. ^sBehold, it is ^tcoming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.

8 And the word of the Lord came to me: 9 ^u“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:

^v“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
10 ^wsharpened for slaughter,
^xpolished to flash like lightning!
(Or ^yshall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, ^zwith everything of wood.) ^{▼▼Probable reading; Hebrew The rod of my son despises everything of wood} 11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished ^abto be given into the hand of the slayer. 12 ^acCry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. ^adStrike therefore upon your thigh. 13 For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise ^aethe rod?” ^{▼▼Or For it is a testing; and what if even the rod despises? It shall not be!} declares the Lord God.

14 “As for you, ^agson of man, prophesy. ^ahClap your hands and let the sword come down twice, ^aiyes, three times, ^{▼▼Hebrew its third} the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. ^{▼▼Hebrew many stumbling blocks} At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; ^alit is taken up ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered taken up is uncertain} for slaughter. 16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. 17 I also will ^anclap my hands, ^aoand I will satisfy my fury; ^apI the Lord have spoken.”

18 The word of the Lord came to me again: 19 “As for you, son of man, mark two ways for ^aqthe sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make ^ara signpost; make it ^asat the head of the way to a city. 20 Mark a way ^atfor the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. 21 For the king of Babylon stands ^auat the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults ^avthe teraphim; ^{▼▼Or household idols} he looks at the liver. 22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, ^axto set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, ^ayto cast up mounds, to build siege towers. 23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. ^azThey have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, ^bathat they may be taken.

24 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, ^bbyou shall be taken in hand. 25 And you, O profane ^{▼▼Or slain; also verse 29} ^bdwicked one, prince of Israel, ^bewhose day has come, ^bfthe time of your final punishment, 26 thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. ^bgExalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. 27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. ^bhThis also shall not be, ^biuntil he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.

28 “And you, ^bjson of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God ^bkconcerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, ^blA sword, a sword ^bmis drawn for the slaughter. ^bnIt is polished to consume and to flash like lightning— 29 while ^bothey see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, ^bpwhose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30 ^bqReturn it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, ^brI will judge you. 31 And ^bsI will pour out my indignation upon you; ^btI will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of ^bubrutish men, skillful to destroy. 32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. ^bvYou shall be no more remembered, ^bwfor I the Lord have spoken.”