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Ezekiel 21

21 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “Mortal, turn and face toward Jerusalem. Speak out against the temple there, and prophesy against the people who live in the land of Israel. 3 Say to the land of Israel that this is what I, Yahweh, say: ‘I am your enemy! I am about to send an army against you, and it will kill both righteous people and wicked people among you. 4 Because I am going to kill both righteous people and wicked people among you, I will send that army against everyone who lives in your land, from the south of it to the north. 5 Then everyone will know that I, Yahweh, sent that army, and I will not call it back until it has finished.’

6 So then, Mortal, groan out loud! Groan with deep anguish and bitter grief while the people of Israel are watching you. 7 When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you must answer, ‘I am groaning because of the news that is coming. When people hear it, all of them will lose their courage; they will grow weak and terrified, and they will no longer have the strength to do anything. That disaster is surely coming, and it will certainly happen.’ That is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare.”

8 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 9 “Mortal, prophesy and tell the people that this is what I, the Lord, say:

‘Someone has sharpened a sword;

yes, he has sharpened it and polished it until it shines.

10 He sharpened it in order to slaughter many people;

he polished it so that it gleams brightly.

We have no reason to celebrate!

This sword despises every wooden rod, even the royal scepter of my son Judah.

11 Someone polished this sword

so that a warrior could grip it in his hand.

Someone sharpened it and polished it,

in order to hand it over to the man who will do the killing.

12 Mortal, cry out and wail loudly,

because this sword will attack my people and all the leaders of Israel!

I have handed my people and their leaders over to die by that sword.

So slap your hand against your thigh to show how horrified you are.

13 I am putting my people to the test,

and the royal power of Judah, which despises my warnings, will surely come to an end.

That is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare.’

14 So then, Mortal, prophesy, and clap your hands together to show that I have decided to punish them.

Let that sword strike them again and again, a third time.

It is the sword that kills people; it is the sword that slaughters great numbers of them, closing in on them from every side.

15 I am doing this so that they will lose their courage and so that many of them will stumble and fall.

At the gates of all their cities I have stationed men who hold gleaming swords.

How terrible this is! Someone made that sword to gleam brightly; someone made it ready to slaughter people.

16 That sword will slash to the right and then to the left,

wherever the men who hold it point its blade.

17 I myself will clap my hands to show that I have finished judging them,

and then I will no longer be angry.

I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

18 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 19 “Mortal, draw a map that shows two roads for the army of the king of Babylon to march along. Both roads must start out from the same country. Then, at the place where the road divides, carve a signpost shaped like a hand that points toward each city. 20 Mark one road for that army to travel to the city of Rabbah, where the people of Ammon live, and mark the other road for it to travel to Judah, to the city of Jerusalem, which has strong walls around it. 21 The king of Babylon will stop where the road divides, at the place where the two roads begin, and there he will try to learn what will happen by using magic. He will shake marked arrows and see which one falls out; he will ask his household idols what to do; and he will examine the liver of an animal that he has killed. 22 His fortune-telling will point to Jerusalem, so he will attack that city. He will set up battering rams, which are huge logs for smashing down walls; he will give the order to kill the people; his soldiers will shout the battle cry. They will set up battering rams against the city gates, they will pile up a ramp of dirt against the walls, and they will build siege walls around the city. 23 The people in Jerusalem will think that his fortune-telling means nothing, because they had sworn oaths of loyalty to him. But he will remind them of the sins they committed when they broke those oaths, and his soldiers will capture them.

24 So then, tell the people of Israel that this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: ‘You have reminded everyone how guilty you are, because you have openly rebelled, and everything that you do shows how sinful you are. Since you have reminded everyone of your guilt, your enemies will seize you with their own hands and take you away.’

25 As for you, wicked and ungodly king of Israel, your time has come; the time has arrived for me to punish you and to put an end to your sinning. 26 This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: ‘Take off the turban and remove the crown! Nothing will remain as it is now. I will make important those who are unimportant, and I will make unimportant those who are important. 27 I will completely ruin the city of Jerusalem! No one will rebuild it until the one comes who has the right to rule it; then I will hand the city over to him.’

28 Mortal, prophesy and say that this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say about the people of Ammon and about how they insulted my people. Say to them, ‘Soldiers have drawn out their swords to slaughter people; they have polished those swords in order to destroy people, and the blades gleam brightly. 29 Your fortune-tellers saw false visions about you and told you lies when they practiced their magic. But those swords will cut off the heads of you wicked and ungodly people. Your time has come; the time has arrived for me to punish you and to put an end to your sinning. 30 Soldiers of Ammon, put your swords back into their sheaths! I will judge you in the very place where I created you, in the land you came from. 31 I will show you how furious I am with you. Because I am extremely angry, I will punish you severely, and I will hand you over to brutal men who are experts at destroying people. 32 Fire will completely destroy you. You will die violently there in your own land. No one will ever remember you again, for I, Yahweh, have spoken.’ ”

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