The Parable of the Lord’s Sword
1 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 Tell her that this is what the Lord says: ‘I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4 Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore I will unsheath my sword against all flesh from the south to the north. 5 All flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword from its sheath. It will not return again.’
6 Therefore moan, son of man. You shall moan before their eyes with a broken heart and with bitterness. 7 It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you moan?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it is coming! Every heart will melt in fear, and every hand will be feeble. Every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Yes, it is coming, and it shall be done, declares the Lord God.”
8 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy, and tell them that this is what the Lord says:
‘A sword! A sword!
It is sharpened
and also polished.
10 It is sharpened that it may slaughter.
It is polished that it may flash like lightning.
Should we then rejoice?
You have despised the rod, my son,
with the wood of every tree.
11 It is given to be polished,
that it may be handled.
The sword is sharpened.
Yes, it is polished
to put it into the hand of the killer.
12 Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is on my people.
It is on all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered over to the sword with my people.
Therefore beat your thigh.
13 For there is a trial.
What if even the scepter that condemns
no longer continues?’ declares the Lord God.
14 ‘You therefore, son of man, prophesy
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword be doubled the third time,
the sword of the fatally wounded.
It is the sword of the great one
who is fatally wounded,
which enters into their rooms.
15 I have set the threatening sword against all their gates,
that their heart may melt in fear,
and their stumbling multiplied.
Ah! It is shining like lightning.
It is pointed for slaughter.
16 Gather together.
Go to the right.
Set yourselves in array.
Go to the left,
wherever your face is set.
17 I will also strike my hands together,
and I will cause my wrath to rest.’
I, the Lord, have spoken it.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 19 “Also, you, son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. Both routes will come from the same land. Mark out a place at the head of the way to the city. 20 You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah in Jerusalem, the fortified city.
21 For the king of Babylon stood at the top of the fork in the road, to practice divination where he shook the arrows back and forth, consulted the teraphim, and examined the livers of sacrificed animals.
22 In his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to order the slaughter, to give the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, and to build siege walls. 23 It will seem to them like a false divination to those who have sworn oaths with them, but the king of Babylon will call their iniquity to their memory that they may be taken captive.
24 Therefore the Lord God says: ‘Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, your transgressions are uncovered, so that all your deeds and your sins are exposed. Because you have brought it to memory, you will be taken captive.
25 You, deadly, wounded, wicked one,
the prince of Israel,
the day has come for you,
the time of the final punishment.
26 The Lord God says:
‘Remove the turban,
and take off the crown.
This will not be as it was.
Exalt that which is low,
and humble that which is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn it.
This also will be no more,
until he comes whose right it is,
and I will give it.’
28 You, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord God says this concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach:
‘A sword! A sword is drawn!
It is polished for the slaughter,
to cause it to devour,
that it may be like lightning;
29 while they see for you false visions,
while they divine lies to you,
to lay you on the necks
of the wicked who are mortally wounded,
whose day has come in the time of their final punishment.
30 Cause it to return into its sheath.
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your birth, I will judge you.
31 I will pour out my indignation on you.
I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath.
I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men,
skillful to destroy.
32 You will be fuel for the fire.
Your blood will be in the midst of the land.
You will be remembered no more;
for I, the Lord, have spoken it.’ ”