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1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am against you; and I shall draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 “Because I shall cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword shall go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5 “Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.”’ 6 “As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. 7 “And it will come about when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ that you will say, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ declares the Lord GOD.” 8 Again the word of the LORD came to me saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the LORD.’ Say, ‘A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished! 10 ‘Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!’ 11 “And it is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. 12 “Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with My people, therefore strike your thigh. 13 “For there is a testing; and what if even the rod which despises will be no more?” declares the Lord GOD. 14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and clap your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts may melt, and many fall at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. 16 “Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge is appointed. 17 “I shall also clap My hands together, and I shall appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken.” 18 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 19 “As for you, son of man, make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to the city. 20 “You shall mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. 21 “For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he shakes the arrows, he consults the household idols, he looks at the liver. 22 “Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to set battering rams, to open the mouth for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build a siege wall. Ezekiel 21:1-22, New American Standard 1977. Copyright © 1977 by The Lockman Foundation.
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