*THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel 21 ©
God commands the prophet to preach very sharply against Jerusalem, the temple, and the entire land, both high and low, concerning the sword of the Lord, for which the prophet must sigh and lament, for a sign unto the people, vs. 1, 2, etc. He foretells that the king of Babel shall enter into consultation whether he shall first set upon Jerusalem, or upon the land of the Ammonites, but yet that he shall first march to Jerusalem, because of their perjury, 18. A prophecy against the kingdom of Judah, and of the coming of Christ, 30. Also against the Ammonites, 28.
AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, 1set thy face toward Jerusalem, and 2drop thy word toward 3the holy places, and prophesy against the 4land of Israel,
And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, 5I am against thee, and will draw forth my 6sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the 7righteous and the wicked.
Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath 8against all flesh from the south to the north:
That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall 9not return any more.
10Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the 11breaking of thy loins; and 12with bitterness sigh before 13their eyes.
And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the 14tidings; because it cometh: and every heart 15shall melt,a and all hands 16shall be feeble,b and every 17spirit shall 18faint,c and all kneesd shall be 19weak as water: behold, it 20cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
¶Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, 21A sword, 22a sword is 23sharpened, and also 24furbished:
It is sharpened to make 25a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may 26glitter: 27should we then make mirth? 28it 29contemneth 30the rod 31of my son, as 32every tree.
And 33he hath given 34it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand 35of the slayer.
Cry and howl, son of man: for 36it shall be 37upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: 38terrorse by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: 39smitef therefore upon thy thigh.
40Because it isg a 41trial, and 42what 43if the sword 44contemn 45even the rod? 46it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and 47smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled 48the third time, the 49sword of the slain: it is the sword of the 50great men that are slain, which entereth 51into their privyh chambers.
I have set the 52point of the sword against all 53their gates, that their heart may 54faint, and their 55ruins be multiplied: 56ah! 57it isi made 58bright, it is 59wrapped up for the slaughter.
60Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, 61whithersoever thy face is set.
I will also 62smite mine hands together, and I will cause 63my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
¶The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
Also, thou son of man, 64appoint thee 65two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of 66one land: and choose thou a 67place, choose it 68at the head of the way to the city.
Appoint a way, that the sword may come to 69Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.
For the king of Babylon 70stood 71at the 72parting of the way, at the 73head of the two ways, to use 74divination: he made his arrows 75bright, he 76consulted with 77images, he looked in the 78liver.
At his right hand was the divination 79for Jerusalem, 80to appoint 81captains, to open 82the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up 83the voice with shouting, to appoint 84battering rams against the gates, to castj a mount,k and to build a fort.
And 85it shall be unto 86them as a 87false divination 88in their sight, 89to them that have sworn oaths: but 90he will call to remembrance the 91iniquity, 92that they may be 93taken.
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to 94be 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 95hand.
¶And thou, 96profane 97wicked prince of Israel, whose 98day is come, when iniquity shall have an 99end,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; 100Remove the diadem,l and take off the crown: this shall not be the 101same: exalt him that is 102low, and abase him 103that is high.
I will 104overturn, overturn, overturn, 105it: and 106it shall be no more, until he come whose 107right it is; and I will give 108it him.
¶And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their 109reproach; even say thou, The sword, 110the sword is 111drawn: for the 112slaughter it is furbished, 113to consume 114because of the glittering:
Whiles 115they see 116vanity unto 117thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the 118necks of them 119that are slain, of the wicked, 120whose 121day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.
122Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will 123judge thee in the place 124where thou wast created, in the land of thy 125nativity.
And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the 126fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of 127brutish men, and 128skilful to destroy.
Thou shalt be 129for fuel to the fire; thy 130blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be 131no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.