| 1 | And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, |
| 2 | Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop {thy word} toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, |
| 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 his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. |
| 4 | Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: |
| 5 | That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. |
| 6 | Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of {thy} loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. |
| 7 | 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. |
| 8 | Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, |
| 9 | Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: |
| 10 | It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, {as} every tree. |
| 11 | 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. |
| 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. |
| 13 | Because {it is} a trial, and what if {the sword} contemn even the rod? it shall be no {more}, saith the Lord God. |
| 14 | 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. |
| 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} wrapped up for the slaughter. |
| 16 | Go thee one way or other, {either} on the right hand, {or} on the left, whithersoever thy face {is} set. |
| 17 | I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the Lord have said {it}. |
| 18 | The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, |
| 19 | 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. |
| 20 | Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 23 | 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. |
| 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. |
| 25 | And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity {shall have} an end, |
| 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. |
| 27 | 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}. |
| 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: |
| 29 | Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto 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. |
| 30 | 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. |
| 31 | 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} skilful to destroy. |
| 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}. |