The Father Draws His Sword
21 1 The word of our Father came to me: 2 Son of man, turn and face Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel,
3 and say to the land of Israel: This is what your Father says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4 Because I am going to cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from south to north. 5 Then everyone will know that I am the Father. I have drawn my sword from its sheath, and it will not return again.
6 As for you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a breaking heart and bitter grief. 7 And when they ask you, 'Why are you groaning?' you are to say, 'Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, every hand will go limp, every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water. Look, it is coming! It will surely happen, declares the Sovereign Father.'
8 The word of our Father came to me:
9 Son of man, prophesy and say: This is what the Sovereign Father says: A sword, a sword, sharpened and also polished— 10 sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning. Shall we then rejoice? The sword despises the scepter of my son, as it does every tree. 11 The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped in the hand it is sharpened and polished, ready for the hand of the executioner. 12 Cry out and wail, son of man for it is against my people it is against all the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword along with my people. So strike your thigh in grief. 13 Surely it will be put to the test. And what if even the scepter it despises will exist no longer? declares the Sovereign Father. 14 So you, son of man, prophesy and strike your hands together. Let the sword come down twice, even three times—a sword for slaughter, a sword for great slaughter, closing in on them from every side, 15 so that hearts may melt and the fallen be many. At all their gates I have set the sword for slaughter. Ah! It is made to flash like lightning, it is drawn for the slaughter. 16 Slash to the right then to the left, wherever your blade is turned. 17 I too will clap my hands and my fury will subside. I, your Father, have spoken.
The King of Babylon at the Crossroads
18 The word of our Father came to me:
19 Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city. 20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the parting of the two ways, to seek an omen: he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he examines the liver. 1 1 v21 Shaking arrows, consulting household idols, and reading an animal's liver were three Babylonian methods of fortune-telling, used here to decide which city to attack first. 22 In his right hand falls the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, give the command to slaughter, raise the battle cry, set battering rams against the gates, build a ramp, and erect siege works. 23 It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and seize them.
24 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Father says: Because you have brought your guilt to mind by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in everything you do—because you have been brought to mind, you will be captured by his hand. 25 And you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, your day has come, the time of your final punishment— 26 this is what the Sovereign Father says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. Things will not remain as they were: the lowly will be exalted and the exalted brought low. 27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! It will not be restored until he comes to whom it rightfully belongs to him I will give it.
Judgment Turns to the Ammonites
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say: This is what the Sovereign Father says concerning the Ammonites and their taunts. Say: A sword, a sword, drawn for the slaughter, polished to consume and to flash like lightning! 29 Despite false visions about you and lying divinations, it will be laid on the necks of the wicked who are to be slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. 30 Return the sword 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 breathe out the fire of my wrath against you and hand you over to brutal men, skilled in destruction. 32 You will be fuel for the fire, your blood will be shed in your land and you will be remembered no more. For I, the Father, have spoken.