Ezekiel

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

1The word of the LORD came to me. He said:

2Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

2"Son of man, turn your face toward Jerusalem. Preach against her holy places. Speak my message against the land of Israel.

3And 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.

3Say to the land of Israel: This is what the LORD says. I am against you. I will pull my sword out of its cover and cut off both the good and the wicked from you.

4Seeing 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:

4Because I am going to cut off both the good and the wicked, my sword will come out against everyone, from the south to the north.

5That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

5Then everyone will know that I, the LORD, have pulled my sword from its cover. I will not put it back again.

6Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

6So groan out loud, son of man. Groan where they can see you, with a broken heart and bitter grief.

7And 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.

7When they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' say, 'Because of the news that is coming.' Every heart will melt and every hand will hang limp. Every spirit will faint and every knee will go weak as water. It is coming, and it will happen, says the Lord GOD."

8Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

8Again the word of the LORD came to me. He said:

9Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

9"Son of man, speak my message. Say: This is what the Lord says. A sword, a sword! It is sharpened and polished.

Note"Furbished" in the King James Version means polished, not repaired.

10It 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.

10It is sharpened for terrible killing. It is polished to flash like lightning. Should we celebrate? The sword scorns my son's royal staff, as it scorns any stick of wood.

11And 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.

11The sword is given to be polished, so a hand can grip it. It is sharpened and polished, ready for the killer's hand.

12Cry 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.

12Cry out and wail, son of man, for the sword is aimed at my people and at all the leaders of Israel. They are handed over to the sword along with my people. So strike your thigh in grief.

NoteStriking your own thigh was a way people showed deep grief or shock, the way we might put our head in our hands.

13Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

13A time of testing is coming. What if the royal staff, which the sword scorns, does not last? says the Lord GOD.

14Thou 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.

14So then, son of man, speak my message and clap your hands together. Let the sword strike twice, even three times. It is a killing sword, a sword of great slaughter, closing in from every side.

15I 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.

15I have set a sword for killing at every one of their gates, so their hearts melt and many stumble and fall. It is polished to flash like lightning. It is drawn for the slaughter.

16Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

16Slash to the right, sword! Turn to the left! Go wherever your blade is pointed.

17I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.

17I will also clap my hands together, and my anger will be satisfied. I, the LORD, have spoken."

18The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

18The word of the LORD came to me again. He said:

19Also, 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.

19"Now, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to travel. Both roads start from the same country. Put up a signpost where the road splits toward each city.

20Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

20Mark one road for the sword to reach Rabbah, the city of the Ammonites. Mark the other to reach Judah and the walled city of Jerusalem.

21For 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.

21The king of Babylon stops where the road splits, at the meeting of the two roads, to look for a sign. He shakes his arrows, asks his idols, and examines a liver.

NoteKings sometimes looked for signs about the future by shaking marked arrows and by studying the liver of an animal they had killed.

22At 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.

22The sign in his right hand points to Jerusalem. There he will set up battering rams, give the order to kill, raise the war shout, aim rams at the gates, pile up a ramp, and build a siege wall.

23And 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.

23To those who had sworn loyalty to him, the sign will look false. But it will bring their guilt to mind, and they will be captured.

24Therefore 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.

24So this is what the Lord GOD says: You have brought your guilt to mind. Your wrongs are out in the open, and your sins show in everything you do. Because you have been remembered this way, you will be seized by force.

25And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

25And you, wicked ruler of Israel, who treats holy things as nothing: your day has come, the time of your final punishment.

26Thus 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.

26This is what the Lord GOD says: Take off the turban. Remove the crown. Things will not stay as they are. Lift up the low, and bring down the high.

NoteThe "diadem" was a turban worn by the ruler. Removing it and the crown means the ruler is being stripped of power.

27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.

27A ruin, a ruin, a ruin is what I will make of it. It will not be rebuilt until the one comes who has the right to it. I will give it to him.

28And 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:

28"And you, son of man, speak my message. Say what the Lord GOD says about the Ammonites and their insults: A sword, a sword is drawn! It is polished to kill and to destroy, flashing like lightning.

29Whiles 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.

29Their prophets see false visions about you and tell you lies. The sword will fall on the necks of the wicked who are killed, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.

30Shall 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.

30Put the sword back in its cover. In the place where you were made, in the land where you were born, I will judge you.

31And 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.

31I will pour out my anger on you. I will breathe the fire of my fury against you. I will hand you over to brutal men who are skilled at destroying.

32Thou 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.

32You will be fuel for the fire. Your blood will soak your own land. No one will remember you, for I, the LORD, have spoken."