1 And the word of יהוה came unto me, saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem (Yerushalayim), and drop your word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Yisrael;
3 And say to the land of Yisrael, ‘Thus saith יהוה: “Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth My sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4 Seeing then that I will cut off from you 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 יהוה have drawn forth My sword out of his sheath; it shall not return anymore.”’
6 Sigh therefore, you son of man, with the breaking of your loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be, when they say unto you, Wherefore sighest you? That you 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 Lord (Adonai) יהוה.”
8 Again the word of יהוה came unto me, saying,
9 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Thus saith יהוה, “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 Yisrael. Terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon My people; smite therefore upon your thigh.
13 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemns even the rod? It shall be no more, saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה.
14 You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite your 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 you one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever your face is set.
17 I will also smite Mine hands together, and I will cause My fury to rest; I יהוה have said it.”
18 The word of יהוה came unto me again, saying:
19 “Also, you son of man, appoint you two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon (Bavel) may come; both twain shall come forth out of one land; and choose you 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 (Yehudah) in Yerushalayim the defenced.
21 For the king of Babylon (Bavel) 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 (Yerushalayim), 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 Lord (Adonai) יהוה: ‘Because you 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 you are come to remembrance, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 ‘And you, profane wicked prince of Yisrael, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,’
26 Thus saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה: ‘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 you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus saith Lord (Adonai) יהוה concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach;’ even say you: ‘The sword, the sword is drawn; for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering;
29 Whiles they see vanity unto you, whiles they divine a lie unto you, to bring you 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 you in the place where you wast created, in the land of your nativity.
31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon you, I will blow against you in the fire of My wrath, and deliver you into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
32 You shalt be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shalt be no more remembered; for I יהוה have spoken it.’”