Ezekiel 21
21
Babylon, the Sword of God
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2#Ezek. 20:46“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, #Amos 7:16preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am #Jer. 21:13; Ezek. 5:8; Nah. 2:13; 3:5against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both #Job 9:22righteous and wicked from you. 4Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh #Jer. 12:12; Ezek. 20:47from south to north, 5that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it #(Is. 45:23; 55:11)shall not return anymore.” ’ 6#Is. 22:4; Jer. 4:19; Luke 19:41Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, #Ezek. 7:17all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.”
8Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say:
#Deut. 32:41; Ezek. 5:1; 21:15, 28‘A sword, a sword is sharpened
And also polished!
10Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!
Should we then make mirth?
It despises the scepter of My son,
As it does all wood.
11And He has given it to be polished,
That it may be handled;
This sword is sharpened, and it is polished
To be given into the hand of #Ezek. 21:19the slayer.’
12“Cry and wail, son of man;
For it will be against My people,
Against all the princes of Israel.
Terrors including the sword will be against My people;
Therefore #Jer. 31:19strike your thigh.
13“Because it is #Job 9:23; 2 Cor. 8:2a testing,
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
#Ezek. 21:27The scepter shall be no more,”
says the Lord God.
14“You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And #Num. 24:10; Ezek. 6:11strike your hands together.
The third time let the sword do double damage.
It is the sword that slays,
The sword that slays the great men,
That enters their #1 Kin. 20:30private chambers.
15I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That the heart may melt and many may stumble.
Ah! #Ezek. 21:10, 28It is made bright;
It is grasped for slaughter:
16“Swords#Ezek. 14:17 at the ready!
Thrust right!
Set your blade!
Thrust left—
Wherever your edge is ordered!
17“I also will #Ezek. 22:13beat My fists together,
And #Ezek. 5:13; 16:42; 24:13I will cause My fury to rest;
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
18The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 19“And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20Appoint a road for the sword to go to #Deut. 3:11; Jer. 49:2; Ezek. 25:5; Amos 1:14Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the images, he looks at the liver. 22In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to #Jer. 51:14lift the voice with shouting, #Ezek. 4:2to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who #Ezek. 17:16, 18have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.
24“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.
25‘Now to you, O #2 Chr. 36:13; Jer. 52:2; Ezek. 12:10; 17:19profane, wicked prince of Israel, #Ezek. 21:29whose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26thus says the Lord God:
“Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
#Luke 1:52Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
27Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
#Gen. 49:10; (Luke 1:32, 33; John 1:49)It shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to #Ps. 2:6; 72:7, 10; (Jer. 23:5, 6; Ezek. 34:24; 37:24)Him.” ’
A Sword Against the Ammonites
28“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God #Jer. 25:21; 49:1–6; Ezek. 25:1–7; Amos 1:13; Zeph. 2:8–11concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say:
‘A sword, a sword is drawn,
Polished for slaughter,
For consuming, for flashing—
29While they #Jer. 27:9; Ezek. 12:24; 13:6–9; 22:28see false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain
#Job 18:20; Ps. 37:17; Is. 10:3; Ezek. 7:2, 3, 7Whose day has come,
Whose iniquity shall end.
30‘Return#Jer. 47:6, 7 it to its sheath.
#Gen. 15:14I will judge you
In the place where you were created,
#Ezek. 16:3In the land of your nativity.
31I will #Ezek. 7:8pour out My indignation on you;
I will #Ps. 18:15; Is. 30:33; Ezek. 22:20, 21; Hag. 1:9blow against you with the fire of My wrath,
And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to #Jer. 6:22, 23; 51:20, 21; Hab. 1:6–10destroy.
32You shall be fuel for the fire;
Your blood shall be in the midst of the land.
#Ezek. 25:10You shall not be remembered,
For I the Lord have spoken.’ ”
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Ezekiel 21: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.