21:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
21:2 Son of man, set thy face towards Jerusalem, and drop [thy
word] towards 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 the breaking of [thy]
loins; 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 furbished:
21:10 It is sharpened to make a grievous slaughter; it is
furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it
contemneth the rod of my son, [as] every tree.
21:11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be
handled: the sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give
it into the hand of the slayer.
21:12 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.
21:13 Because [it is] a trial, and what if [the sword]
contemneth 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, whithersoever 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, appoint thee 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 Appoint 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 mount, [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
disclosed, 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] furbished, 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 brutish men, [and] skillful 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].
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