211 And the word of the Lord came to me saying , 2 "Son of man , set your face toward Jerusalem , and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel ; 3 and say to the land of Israel , 'Thus says the Lord , "Behold , I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked . 4 "Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked , therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north . 5 "Thus all flesh will know that I, the Lord , have drawn My sword out of its sheath . It will not return to its sheath again ."' 6 "As for you, son of man , groan with breaking heart and bitter grief , groan in their sight . 7 "And when they say to you, 'Why e do you groan ?' you shall say , 'Because of the news that is coming ; and every heart will melt , all hands will be feeble , every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water . Behold , it comes and it will happen ,' declares the Lord GOD ."
8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 9 "Son of man , prophesy and say , 'Thus says the Lord .' Say , ' A sword , a sword sharpened And also polished ! 10 'Sharpened to make a slaughter , Polished to flash like lightning !' Or shall we rejoice , the rod of My son despising every tree ? 11 "It is given to be polished , that it may be handled ; the sword is sharpened and polished , to give it into the hand of the slayer . 12 " Cry out and wail , son of man ; for it is against My people , it is against all the officials of Israel . They are delivered over to the sword with My people , therefore strike your thigh . 13 "For there is a testing ; and what if even the rod which despises will be no more?" declares the Lord GOD . 14 "You therefore, son of man , prophesy and clap your hands together e ; and let the sword be doubled the third time , the sword for the slain . It is the sword for the great one slain , which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt , and many fall at all their gates . I have given the glittering sword . Ah ! It is made for striking like lightning , it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter . 16 "Show yourself sharp , go to the right ; set yourself; go to the left , wherever your edge is appointed . 17 "I will also clap My hands together e , and I will appease My wrath ; I, the Lord , have spoken ."
18 The word of the Lord came to me saying , 19 "As for you, son of man , make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come ; both of them will go out of one land . And make a signpost ; make it at the head of the way to the city . 20 "You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon , and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem . 21 "For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way , at the head of the two ways , to use divination ; he shakes the arrows , he consults the household idols , he looks at the liver . 22 "Into his right hand came the divination , 'Jerusalem ,' to set battering rams , to open the mouth for slaughter , to lift up the voice with a battle cry , to set battering rams against the gates , to cast up ramps , to build a siege wall . 23 "And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes ; they have sworn solemn oaths . But he brings iniquity to remembrance , that they may be seized . 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 deeds your sins appear -because you have come to remembrance , you will be seized with the hand . 25 'And you, O slain , wicked one , the prince of Israel , whose day has come , in the time of the punishment of the end ,' 26 thus says the Lord GOD , 'Remove the turban and take off the crown ; this will no longer be the same . Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high . 27 ' A ruin , a ruin , a ruin , I will make it. This also will be no more until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.'
28 "And you, son of man , prophesy and say , 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach ,' and say : 'A sword , a sword is drawn , polished for the slaughter , to cause it to consume , that it may be like lightning - 29 while they see for you false visions , while they divine lies for you-to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain , whose day has come , in the time of the punishment of the end . 30 ' Return it to its sheath . In the place where you were created , in the land of your origin , I will judge you. 31 'I will pour out My indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of My wrath , and I will give you into the hand of brutal men , skilled in destruction . 32 'You will be fuel for the fire ; your blood will be in the midst of the land . You will not be remembered , for I, the Lord , have spoken .' "
221 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 2 "And you, son of man , will you judge , will you judge the bloody city ? Then cause her to know all her abominations . 3 "You shall say , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "A city shedding blood in her midst , so that her time will come , and that makes idols , contrary to her interest, for defilement ! 4 "You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed , and defiled by your idols which you have made . Thus you have brought your day near and have come to your years ; therefore e I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mocking to all the lands . 5 "Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you of ill repute , full of turmoil . 6 "Behold , the rulers of Israel , each according to his power , have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood . 7 "They have treated father and mother lightly within you. The alien they have oppressed e in your midst ; the fatherless and the widow they have wronged in you. 8 "You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths . 9 "Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood , and in you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have committed acts of lewdness . 10 "In you they have uncovered their fathers' nakedness ; in you they have humbled her who was unclean in her menstrual impurity . 11 "One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law . And another in you has humbled his sister , his father's daughter . 12 "In you they have taken bribes to shed blood ; you have taken interest and profits , and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression , and you have forgotten Me," declares the Lord GOD . 13 "Behold , then, I smite My hand at your dishonest gain which you have acquired and at the bloodshed which is among you. 14 "Can your heart endure , or can your hands be strong in the days that I will deal with you? I, the Lord , have spoken and will act . 15 "I will scatter you among the nations and I will disperse you through the lands , and I will consume your uncleanness from you. 16 "You will profane yourself in the sight of the nations , and you will know that I am the Lord .""'
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 18 "Son of man , the house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are bronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace ; they are the dross of silver . 19 "Therefore , thus says the Lord GOD , 'Because all of you have become dross , therefore , behold , I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem . 20 'As they gather silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into the furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath and I will lay you there and melt you. 21 'I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath , and you will be melted in the midst of it. 22 'As silver is melted in the furnace , so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord , have poured out My wrath on you.' "
23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 24 "Son of man , say to her, 'You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation .' 25 "There is a conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey . They have devoured lives ; they have taken treasure and precious things ; they have made many widows in the midst of her. 26 "Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things ; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane , and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean ; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths , and I am profaned among them. 27 "Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey , by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain . 28 "Her prophets have smeared whitewash for them, seeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying , 'Thus says the Lord GOD ,' when the Lord has not spoken . 29 "The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery , and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed the sojourner without justice . 30 "I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land , so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 "Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath ; their way I have brought upon their heads ," declares the Lord GOD .
