Ezekiel 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21[a]
The Unsheathed Sword. 1 Then the word of the Lord was addressed to me: 2 Son of man, turn your face in the direction of Jerusalem; preach against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel. 3 Say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am coming against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the upright and the wicked.
4 Because I will cut off from you both the upright and the wicked, my sword shall be unsheathed against everyone from south to north, 5 and all people will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword from its sheath, and it will never again be sheathed.
Symbols of the City’s Fall. 6 As for you, son of man, groan. With a breaking heart grieve bitterly as they look on. 7 And when they ask you why you are groaning, you shall reply: Because of the news that is about to come. Every heart will melt and every hand will become feeble; every spirit will grow faint and all knees will turn to water. Behold, it is coming now. It will surely take place, says the Lord God.
Song of the Sword. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Prophesy, son of man, and say: Thus says the Lord:
A sword, a sword has been sharpened;
it has also been burnished.
10 It is sharpened for slaughter,
burnished to flash like lightning.
11 The sword has been polished to be wielded
and to be placed in the slayer’s hand.
12 Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it will be wielded against my people.
All of Israel’s princes
will fall by the sword.
And so slap your thigh, my people,
13 for the sword has been tested.
And why should it not be so,
says the Lord God,
since you have spurned the rod?
14 As for you, son of man, prophesy,
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice,
even three times.
It is a sword for killing,
a sword for great slaughter,
that threatens their enemies on every side.
15 Therefore, make their hearts melt
and cause many to fall.
I have posted at the gates
the sword for slaughter.
The great sword of slaughter
will flash like lightning.
16 Be prepared on the right,
be ready on the left—
wherever your sword is needed.
17 I, too, will strike my hands together
and satisfy my fury.
I, the Lord, have spoken.
18 The King of Babylon at the Crossroads. The following word of the Lord was addressed to me: 19 Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Both roads shall begin from the same land. Then put up a signpost for the place where the roads diverge. 20 Indicate the route which the sword should take for Rabbah of the Ammonites, and the one for Judah and the fortress of Jerusalem.
21 For the king of Babylon will stand at the fork where the two roads divide to seek an omen. He will shake the arrows, consult the household gods, and inspect the liver. 22 Into his right hand the arrow marked Jerusalem will fall. Here, then, he will issue the command for slaughter, sound the battle cry, post battering rams at the gates, cast up siege-ramps, and build siege-towers. 23 The inhabitants who have sworn allegiance[b] to him will believe that this is a false omen, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.
24 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because your open rebellion has caused us to remember your guilt, in that you have paraded your misdeeds and flaunted your sins in all your deeds, you shall be taken into captivity.
25 As for you,
O vile and wicked ruler of Israel,
the day of your doom is approaching,
the time of your final punishment.
26 Thus says the Lord:
Remove your diadem; take off your crown;
everything is destined to be changed.
The lowly will be exalted
and the exalted will be brought low.
27 A ruin! A ruin!
I will make it all a ruin
until the rightful ruler comes.
28 The Ammonites’ Punishment. As for you, son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord in regard to the Ammonites and their insults:
A sword, a sword, drawn for slaughter,
burnished to consume and to flash like lightning.
29 In spite of false visions about you
as well as lying divinations,
that sword will be laid on the necks
of the wicked who are to be slain—
those whose day has come,
the hour of final punishment.
30 Return it to its sheath.
I will judge you
in the place where you were created,
in the land of your origin.
31 I will pour forth my wrath upon you
with the fire of my blazing anger.
I will hand you over to barbarous men
who are skilled in the art of destruction.
32 You will serve as fuel for the fire,
and your blood shall flow throughout the land.
You shall remember no more,
for I, the Lord, have spoken.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 21:1 Sword is the word that links the following passages, which differ widely in their subject. It might be thought that the prophet is being excessively cruel as he announces the punishment and destruction of all; but exaggeration is part of the literary genre and of Ezekiel’s style.
- Ezekiel 21:23 Sworn allegiance: probably that binding Zedekiah to the Babylonians. See 2 Ki 24:17.
