The LORD's Sharpened Sword

211 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 2 'Son of man, set thy face unto Jerusalem, and prophesy unto the holy places, and prophesy unto the ground of Israel; 3 and thou hast said unto the ground of Israel: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I 'am' against thee, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off from thee righteous and wicked. 4 Because that I have cut off from thee righteous and wicked, Therefore go out doth My sword from its scabbard, Unto all flesh, from south to north. 5 And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It doth not turn back any more. 6 And thou, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, yea, with bitterness thou dost sigh before their eyes, 7 and it hath come to pass, when they say unto thee, For what art thou sighing? that thou hast said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And melted hath every heart, And feeble hath been all hands, And weak is every spirit, And all knees go—waters, Lo, it is coming, yea, it hath been, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

8 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 9 'Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished. 10 So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising every tree. 11 And he giveth it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened—the sword—and polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer. 12 Cry and howl, son of man, For it hath been among My people, It 'is' among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy thigh, 13 Because 'it is' a trier, And what if even the sceptre it is despising? It shall not be, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. 14 And thou, son of man, prophesy, And smite hand on hand, And bent is the sword a third time, The sword of the wounded! It 'is' the sword of the wounded—the great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them. 15 To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, By all their gates I have set the point of a sword. Ah, it is made for brightness, Wrapt up for slaughter. 16 Take possession of the right, place thyself at the left, Whither thy face is appointed. 17 And I also, I smite My hand on my hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, Jehovah, have spoken.'

18 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 19 'And thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare 'it'. 20 A way appoint for the coming of the sword, Unto Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in Jerusalem—the fenced. 21 For stood hath the king of Babylon at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He hath moved lightly with the arrows, He hath asked at the teraphim, He hath looked on the liver. 22 At his right hath been the divination—Jerusalem, To place battering-rams, To open the mouth with slaughter, To lift up a voice with shouting, To place battering-rams against the gates, To pour out a mount, to build a fortification. 23 And it hath been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, And he is causing iniquity to be remembered to be caught. 24 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, By the hand ye are caught. 25 And thou, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end! 26 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn aside the mitre, and bear away the crown, This—not this—the low make high, And the high make low. 27 An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, Also this hath not been till the coming of Him, Whose 'is' the judgment, and I have given it.

Judgment on the Ammonites

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: and thou hast said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, Polished to the utmost for brightness! 29 In the seeing for thee of a vain thing, In the divining for thee of a lie, To put thee on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end. 30 Turn 'it' back unto its scabbard, In the place where thou wast produced, In the land of thy birth I do judge thee. 31 And I have poured on thee Mine indignation, With fire of My wrath I blow against thee, And have given thee into the hand of brutish men—artificers of destruction. 32 To the fire thou art for fuel, Thy blood is in the midst of the land, Thou art not remembered, For I, Jehovah, have spoken!'

The Sins of Jerusalem

221 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 2 'And thou, son of man, dost thou judge? dost thou judge the city of blood? then thou hast caused it to know all its abominations, 3 and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The city is shedding blood in its midst, For the coming in of its time, And it hath made idols on it for defilement. 4 By thy blood that thou hast shed thou hast been guilty, And by thine idols that thou hast made thou hast been defiled, And thou causest thy days to draw near, And art come in unto thine years, Therefore I have given thee a reproach to nations, And a derision to all the lands. 5 The near and the far-off from thee scoff at thee, O defiled of name—abounding in trouble. 6 Lo, princes of Israel—each according to his arm Have been in thee to shed blood. 7 Father and mother made light of in thee, To a sojourner they dealt oppressively in thy midst, Fatherless and widow they oppressed in thee. 8 My holy things thou hast despised, And My sabbaths thou hast polluted. 9 Men of slander have been in thee to shed blood, And on the mountains they have eaten in thee, Wickedness they have done in thy midst. 10 The nakedness of a father hath one uncovered in thee, The defiled of impurity they humbled in thee. 11 And each with the wife of his neighbour hath done abomination, And each his daughter-in-law hath defiled through wickedness, And each his sister, his father's daughter, hath humbled in thee. 12 A bribe they have taken in thee to shed blood, Usury and increase thou hast taken, And cuttest off thy neighbour by oppression, And Me thou hast forgotten, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah! 13 And lo, I have smitten My hand, Because of thy dishonest gain that thou hast gained, And for thy blood that hath been in thy midst. 14 Doth thy heart stand—are thy hands strong, For the days that I am dealing with thee? I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done 'it'. 15 And I have scattered thee among nations, And have spread thee out among lands, And consumed thy uncleanness out of thee. 16 And thou hast been polluted in thyself Before the eyes of nations, And thou hast known that I 'am' Jehovah.'

17 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man, 18 The house of Israel hath been to Me for dross, All of them 'are' brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, In the midst of a furnace—dross hath silver been, 19 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your all becoming dross, Therefore, lo, I am gathering you unto the midst of Jerusalem, 20 A gathering of silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, Unto the midst of a furnace—to blow on it fire, to melt it, So do I gather in Mine anger and in My fury, And I have let rest, and have melted you. 21 And I have heaped you up, And blown on you in the fire of My wrath, And ye have been melted in its midst. 22 As the melting of silver in the midst of a furnace, So are ye melted in its midst, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, I have poured out My fury upon you.'

23 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: 24 'Son of man, say to it, Thou 'art' a land, It 'is' not cleansed nor rained on in a day of indignation. 25 A conspiracy of its prophets 'is' in its midst, as a roaring lion tearing prey; The soul they have devoured, Wealth and glory they have taken, Its widows have multiplied in its midst. 26 Its priests have wronged My law, And they pollute My holy things, Between holy and common they have not made separation, And between the unclean and the clean they have not made known, And from my sabbaths they have hidden their eyes, And I am pierced in their midst. 27 Its princes in its midst 'are' as wolves, Tearing prey, to shed blood, to destroy souls, For the sake of gaining dishonest gain. 28 And its prophets have daubed for them with chalk, Seeing a vain thing, and divining for them a lie, Saying, 'Thus said the Lord Jehovah:' And Jehovah hath not spoken. 29 The people of the land have used oppression, And have taken plunder violently away, And humble and needy have oppressed, And the sojourner oppressed—without judgment. 30 And I seek of them a man making a fence, And standing in the breach before Me, In behalf of the land—not to destroy it, And I have not found. 31 And I pour out on them mine indignation, By fire of My wrath I have consumed them, Their way on their own head I have put, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

The Two Sisters

231 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'Son of man, 2 Two women were daughters of one mother, 3 And they go a-whoring in Egypt, In their youth they have gone a-whoring, There they have bruised their breasts, And there they have dealt with the loves of their virginity. 4 And their names 'are' Aholah the elder, And Aholibah her sister, And they are Mine, and bear sons and daughters. As to their names—Samaria 'is' Aholah, And Jerusalem 'is' Aholibah. 5 And go a-whoring doth Aholah under Me, And she doteth on her lovers, On the neighbouring Assyrians, 6 Clothed with blue—governors and prefects, Desirable young men all of them, Horsemen, riding on horses, 7 And she giveth her whoredoms on them, The choice of the sons of Asshur, All of them—even all on whom she doted, By all their idols she hath been defiled. 8 And her whoredoms out of Egypt she hath not forsaken, For with her they lay in her youth, And they dealt with the loves of her virginity, And they pour out their whoredoms on her. 9 Therefore I have given her into the hand of her lovers, Into the hand of sons of Asshur on whom she doted. 10 They have uncovered her nakedness, Her sons and her daughters they have taken, And her by sword they have slain, And she is a name for women, And judgments they have done with her.

11 And see doth her sister Aholibah, And she maketh her doting love more corrupt than she, And her whoredoms than the whoredoms of her sister. 12 On sons of Asshur she hath doted, Governors and prefects, Neighbouring ones—clothed in perfection, Horsemen, riding on horses, Desirable young men all of them. 13 And I see that she hath been defiled, One way 'is' to them both. 14 And she doth add unto her whoredoms, And she seeth graved men on the wall, Pictures of Chaldeans, graved with red lead, 15 Girded with a girdle on their loins, Dyed attire spread out on their heads, The appearance of rulers—all of them, The likeness of sons of Babylon, Chaldea is the land of their birth. 16 And she doteth on them at the sight of her eyes, And sendeth messengers to them, to Chaldea. 17 And come in unto her do sons of Babylon, To the bed of loves, And they defile her with their whoredoms, And she is defiled with them, And her soul is alienated from them. 18 And she revealeth her whoredoms, And she revealeth her nakedness, And alienated is My soul from off her, As alienated was My soul from off her sister. 19 And she multiplieth her whoredoms, To remember the days of her youth, When she went a-whoring in the land of Egypt. 20 And she doteth on their paramours, Whose flesh 'is' the flesh of asses, And the issue of horses—their issue. 21 Thou lookest after the wickedness of thy youth, In dealing out of Egypt thy loves, For the sake of the breasts of thy youth.

22 Therefore, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up thy lovers against thee, From whom thy soul hath been alienated, And have brought them in against thee from round about. 23 Sons of Babylon, and of all Chaldea, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, All the sons of Asshur with them, Desirable young men, governors and prefects, All of them—rulers and proclaimed ones, Riding on horses, all of them. 24 And they have come in against thee, With arms, rider, and wheel, And with an assembly of peoples; Target, and shield, and helmet, They do set against thee round about, And I have set before them judgment, They have judged thee in their Judgments. 25 And I have set My jealousy against thee, And they have dealt with thee in fury, Thy nose and thine ears they turn aside, And thy posterity by sword falleth, They, thy sons and thy daughters do take away, And thy posterity is devoured by fire. 26 And they have stripped thee of thy garments, And have taken thy beauteous jewels. 27 And I have caused thy wickedness to cease from thee, And thy whoredoms out of the land of Egypt, And thou liftest not up thine eyes unto them, And Egypt thou dost not remember again. 28 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am giving thee into a hand that thou hast hated, Into a hand from which thou wast alienated. 29 And they have dealt with thee in hatred, And they have taken all thy labour, And they have left thee naked and bare, And revealed hath been the nakedness of thy whoredoms, And the wickedness of thy whoredoms. 30 To do these things to thee, In thy going a-whoring after nations, Because thou hast been defiled with their idols, 31 In the way of thy sister thou hast walked, And I have given her cup into thy hand. 32 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The cup of thy sister thou dost drink, The deep and the wide one, (Thou art for laughter and for scorn,) Abundant to contain. 33 With drunkenness and sorrow thou art filled, A cup of astonishment and desolation, The cup of thy sister Samaria. 34 And thou hast drunk it, and hast drained 'it', And its earthen ware thou dost gnaw, And thine own breasts thou pluckest off, For I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, 35 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thou hast forgotten Me, And thou dost cast Me behind thy back, Even thou also bear thy wickedness and thy whoredoms.'

36 And Jehovah saith unto me, 'Son of man, Dost thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? Declare then to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, And blood 'is' in their hands, With their idols they committed adultery, And also their sons whom they bore to Me, They caused to pass over to them for food. 38 Again, this they have done to Me, They defiled My sanctuary in that day, And My sabbaths they have polluted. 39 And in their slaughtering their sons to their idols They also come in unto My sanctuary in that day to pollute it, And lo, thus they have done in the midst of My house, 40 And also that they send to men coming from afar, Unto whom a messenger is sent, And lo, they have come in for whom thou hast washed, Painted thine eyes, and put on adornment. 41 And thou hast sat on a couch of honour, And a table arrayed before it, And My perfume and My oil placed on it. 42 And the voice of a multitude at ease 'is' with her, And unto men of the common people are brought in Sabeans from the wilderness, And they put bracelets on their hands, And a beauteous crown on their heads. 43 And I say of the worn-out one in adulteries, Now they commit her whoredoms—she also! 44 And they come in unto her, As the coming in unto a whorish woman, So they have come in unto Aholah, And unto Aholibah—the wicked women. 45 As to righteous men, they judge them with the judgment of adulteresses, And the judgment of women shedding blood, For they 'are' adulteresses, And blood 'is' in their hands. 46 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Bring up against them an assembly, And give them to trembling and to spoiling. 47 And they have cast at them the stone of the assembly, And cut them with their swords, Their sons and their daughters they do slay, And their houses with fire they burn. 48 And I have caused wickedness to cease from the land, And instructed have been all the women, And they do not according to your wickedness. 49 And they have put your wickedness on you, And the sins of your idols ye bear, And ye have known that I 'am' the Lord Jehovah!