21:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
21:2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop [thy word] toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
21:3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I [am] against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
21:4 Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
21:5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.
21:6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with breaking heart; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
21:7 And it shall be, when they say to thee, Why 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.
21:8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
21:9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished:
21:10 It is sharpened to make a grievous slaughter; it is polished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it despiseth the rod of my son, [as] every tree.
21:11 And he hath given it to be polished, that it may be handled: the sword is sharpened, and it is polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.
21:12 Cry and wail, 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.
21:13 Because [it is] a trial, and what if [the sword] despise even the rod? it shall be no [more], saith the Lord GOD.
21:14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite [thy] 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 private chambers.
21:15 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] sharpened for the slaughter.
21:16 Go thee one way or other, [either] on the right hand, [or] on the left, wherever thy face [is] set.
21:17 I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said [it].
21:18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
21:19 Also, thou son of man, mark two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both [ways] shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose [it] at the head of the way to the city.
21:20 Mark a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
21:21 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.
21:22 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 siege mound, [and] to build a fort.
21:23 And it shall be to 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.
21:24 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.
21:25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity [shall have] an end,
21:26 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.
21:27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no [more], until he cometh whose right it is; and I will give it [him].
21:28 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] polished, to consume because of the glittering:
21:29 While they see vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to 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.
21:30 Shall I cause [it] to return into its sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
21:31 And I will pour out my indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of cruel men, [and] skilful to destroy.
21:32 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].