The Father Draws His Sword
21 1 The word of our Father came to me:
2 Son of man, face Jerusalem, preach against her sanctuaries, prophesy against the land of Israel, 3 and say to the land of Israel: Your Father says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both righteous and wicked. 4 Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will leave 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 You, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with breaking heart and bitter grief. 7 When they ask, 'Why are you groaning?' say, 'Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, every hand go limp, every spirit faint, every knee turn to water. Look, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Sovereign Father.'
8 The word of our Father came to me:
9 Son of man, prophesy and say: 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 Wail and cry out, son of man, for it comes against my people; it comes against all Israel's princes. They are handed over to the sword together 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.
18 The word of our Father came to me:
19 Son of man, mark two roads for the sword of Babylon's king to take, both from one land. Make a signpost where the road forks toward a city. 20 Mark one road for the sword against Rabbah of the Ammonites, another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 The king of Babylon halts at the fork where the two roads part, to seek an omen: he shakes the arrows, consults the household idols, examines the liver. a a 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: to set battering rams, order the slaughter, raise the war cry, set battering rams against the gates, build a ramp, and raise siege works. 23 It will seem a false omen to those who swore allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and seize them.
24 So the Sovereign Father says: Because you have brought your guilt to mind through your open rebellion, exposing your sins in all you do—because you are remembered, you will be seized by the king of Babylon's hand. 25 And you, profane and wicked prince of Israel, your day has come, the time of your final punishment— 26 ———————————says the Sovereign Father: Remove the turban, lift off the crown. Nothing stays as it was: the low is raised high, the high 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 the crown. b b v27 Our Father is not destroying the throne forever — he is holding it for the rightful King. This points beyond every failed ruler to Jesus, the one to whom the kingdom truly belongs (Luke 1:32-33).
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say: This is what the Sovereign Father says about the Ammonites and their taunts. Say: A sword, a sword, drawn to slaughter, polished to devour and 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.
