¹Then the word of the Lord came to me and said, ²“Son of Adam, face towards Jerusalem and prophesy to the sanctuary, and prophesy to the ground of Israel, ³and say to the ground of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord says: «I am here against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut the righteous and the wicked off from you. ⁴Since I will cut the righteous and the wicked off from you, my sword will come out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. ⁵And all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword out from its sheath. It will no longer return.» ’ ⁶And you, son of Adam, give a sigh. Sigh before their eyes, with churning of your stomach and in bitterness. ⁷And it will come to pass, when they say to you, ‘What are you sighing for?’, that you will say, ‘Concerning the report, for it is coming, when every heart will sink, and all hands will droop, and every mood will be dejected, and all knees will dissolve like water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be brought to pass, says my Lord the Lord.’ ” ⁸And the word of the Lord came to me and said, ⁹“Son of Adam, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord^* says.’ Say,

‘A sword, a sword has been sharpened

And also polished.

¹⁰It has been sharpened to carry out slaughter.

And it is so that it may have a glitter to it

That it has been polished.

Or should we rejoice in the sceptre of my son?

The sword despises all wood.

¹¹And he has committed it to polishing,

To be held in the hand.

It is a sword which has been sharpened,

And it has been polished,

For it to be placed in the hand of the killer.’

¹²Cry out and howl,

Son of Adam,

For it will be against my people.

It will be against all the officials of Israel.

My people will be delivered to the sword,

So slap your thigh.

¹³For it is a trial.

For what will happen when even the sceptre,

Which the sword despises,

Is not in existence?

Says the Lord, the Lord.

¹⁴And you, son of Adam, prophesy,

And strike hand against hand,

And let the sword do double work

Or triple work.

It is a sword for making casualties,

A sword for great loss of life,

Closing in on them.

¹⁵It is in order that the heart may melt,

With many troubles at all their gates,

That I have appointed the threatening sword.

Oh, it has been made to glitter;

It has been drawn for slaughter.

¹⁶O sword, be sharp,

Strike to the right,

Take notice,

Strike to the left

– Wherever your face is pointing.

¹⁷Then I too will strike my hand against my hand,

And give my fury rest.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”

¹⁸And the word of the Lord came to me and said, ¹⁹“Now you, son of Adam, lay out for yourself two roads, for the king of Babylon's sword to come by. The two of them will issue from one country. Carve out a signpost at the head of the road to the city; carve it out. ²⁰Lay out a road for the sword to come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah, at fortified Jerusalem. ²¹For the king of Babylon will stand at the fork in the road, at the head of two roads, using divination. He will shake arrows, he will inquire of household gods; he will inspect the liver. ²²On his right will be divination concerning Jerusalem, to set up battering rams, to open up a way in for slaughter, to raise a voice in a battle-cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to throw up a rampart; to build a wall of circumvallation. ²³But it will be like a false divination in their sight – that is, to those who have sworn oaths to the king's officials – and he will make mention of the iniquity, for them to be caught. ²⁴So this is what the Lord, the Lord, says: ‘Since you have brought your iniquity into remembrance, by your transgressions being revealed, by your sins being made manifest, with all your deeds – on account of your being brought into remembrance – you will be caught by the hand. ²⁵And as for you, you profane and wicked leader of Israel, whose day has come, at the time of the final iniquity, ²⁶this is what the Lord, the Lord, says:

«Remove the turban

And take the crown away.

What was won't be any more.

Exalt the lowly

And humble the exalted.

²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn it.

Moreover this will not happen

Until the coming of him who has the right,

Which I will give him.» ’

²⁸And you, son of Adam, prophesy and say, ‘This is what my Lord the Lord says to the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach.’ So say,

‘The sword, the sword is unsheathed,

Polished for slaughter

To cause devouring

– The reason for its glitter –

²⁹When they see false visions concerning you,

When they divine concerning you falsely,

Putting you with the necks of those to be executed for their crimes,

Whose day will come in the final iniquity.

³⁰Return it to its sheath.

I will judge you

In the place where you were created,

In your native land.

³¹And I will pour out my indignation over you;

I will blow on my angry fire against you,

And I will deliver you into the hand of savage men,

Forgers of destruction.

³²You 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.’ ”