The Prophet Ezekiel

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 21 -

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and pour in drops toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the soil of Israel.

And you shall say to the land of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, and I will cast my sword from its sheath, and I will slay the just and the impious among you.(a)

But in as much as I have slain among you the just and the impious, for this reason my sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.

So may all flesh know that I, the Lord, have led my sword out of its sheath irrevocably.

And as for you, son of man, groan in the breaking of your back, and groan in bitterness before them.

And when they will say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say: ‘On behalf of the report, for it is approaching. And every heart will waste away, and every hand will be broken, and every spirit will be weakened, and water will flow across every knee.’ Behold, it is approaching and it will happen, says the Lord God.”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“Son of man, prophesy, and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: Speak: The sword! The sword has been sharpened and polished!

It has been sharpened, so that it may cut down victims! It has been polished, so that it may shine! You are disturbing the scepter of my son. You have cut down every tree.(b)

And I have sent it to be made smooth, so that it may be handled. This sword has been sharpened, and it has been polished, so that it may be in the hand of the one who kills.

Cry out and wail, O son of man! For this has been done among my people, this is among all the leaders of Israel, who have fled. They have been handed over to the sword, with my people. Therefore, slap your thigh,

for it has been tested. And this one, when he will have overthrown the scepter, will not be, says the Lord God.

You therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike hand against hand, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled. This is the sword of the great slaughter, which causes them to be utterly stupefied,

and to waste away in heart, and which multiplies ruin. At all their gates, I have presented the consternation of the sword, which has been sharpened and polished so as to shine, which has been dressed for the slaughter.

Be sharpened! Go to the right or to the left, whichever way is the desire of your face.

And then I will clap hand against hand, and I will fulfill my indignation. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

“And as for you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, so that the sword of the king of Babylon may approach. Both shall go forth from one land. And with a hand, he will grasp and cast lots; he will cast at the head of the way of the community.

You shall appoint a way, so that the sword may approach to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, or to Judah, into Jerusalem, greatly fortified.

For the king of Babylon stood at the fork, at the head of the two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows; he inquired of idols, and he consulted entrails.

To his right was set the divination over Jerusalem, to place battering rams so as to open a mouth for the slaughter, to lift up the voice of wailing, to place battering rams opposite the gates, to cast up a rampart, to build fortifications.

And he shall be, in their eyes, like someone consulting an oracle in vain, or imitating the leisure of Sabbaths. But he will call to mind iniquities, so that it will be captured.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because you have been remembered in your iniquities, and you have revealed your betrayals, and your sins have appeared within all your plans, because, I say, you have been remembered, you will be captured by a hand.

But as for you, O impious leader of Israel, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity:(c)

Thus says the Lord God: Take away the diadem, remove the crown. Is this not what has exalted the lowly one, and brought low the sublime one?(d)

Iniquity, iniquity, iniquity I will make it. And this was not done until the one arrived to whom judgment belongs, and I will hand it over to him.(e)

And as for you, son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their disgrace, and you shall say: O sword, O sword, unsheathe yourself so as to slay; polish yourself so as to kill and to shine,(f)

while they look upon you in vain, and they divine lies, so that you may be given over to the necks of the wounded impious, whose day has arrived that was predetermined at the time of iniquity.

Be returned to your sheath! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land of your nativity.(g)

And I will pour out upon you my indignation. In the fire of my fury, I will fan you, and I will give you over to the hands of cruel men, who have devised destruction.

You will be food for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will be delivered to oblivion. For I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Footnotes

(a)21:3 The word ‘occidam’ refers to killing, not merely to cutting.(Conte)

(b)21:10 You remove the sceptre of my son:He speaks (according to St. Jerome) to the sword of Nabuchodonosor: which was about to remove the sceptre of Israel, whom God here calls his son.(Challoner)

(c)21:25 You profane, etc:He speaks to king Sedecias, who had broken his oath, and was otherwise a wicked prince.(Challoner)

(d)21:26 Is it not this that has exalted the low one:The royal crown of Juda had exalted Sedecias from a private state and condition to the sovereign power, as the loss of it had brought down Jechonias, etc.(Challoner)

(e)21:27 I will show it to be iniquity, etc:Or, I will overturn it, viz., the crown of Juda for the manifold iniquities of the kings: but it shall not be utterly removed, till Christ come whose right it is: and who shall reign in the spiritual house of Jacob, that is, in his church, for evermore.(Challoner)

(f)21:28 Concerning their reproach:By which they had reproached and insulted over the Jews, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.(Challoner)

(g)21:30 Return into thy sheath, etc:The sword of Babylon, after raging against many nations, was shortly to be judged and destroyed at home by the Medes and Persians.(Challoner)

The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel.

Tell the land of Israel, ‘The LORD says: “Behold, I am against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore my sword will go out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.

All flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn my sword out of its sheath. It will not return any more.”’

“Therefore sigh, you son of man. You shall sigh before their eyes with a broken heart(a) and with bitterness.

It shall be, when they ask you, ‘Why do you sigh?’ that you shall say, ‘Because of the news, for it comes! 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 shall be done, says the Lord GOD.’”

The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

“Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The LORD says: “A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished.

It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every tree.

It is given to be polished, that it may be handled. The sword is sharpened. Yes, it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.”’

Cry 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.

“For there is a trial. What if even the rod that condemns will be no more?” says the Lord GOD.

“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.

I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made as lightning. It is pointed for slaughter.

Gather yourselves together. Go to the right. Set yourselves in array. Go to the left, wherever your face is set.

I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest. I, the LORD, have spoken it.”

The LORD’s word came to me again, saying,

“Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come. They both will come out of one land, and mark out a place. Mark it out at the head of the way to the city.

You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.

For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shook the arrows back and forth. He consulted the teraphim.(b) He looked in the liver.

In his right hand was the lot for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, and to build forts.

It will be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.

“Therefore the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear; because you have come to memory, you will be taken with the hand.

“‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,

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.

I will overturn, overturn, overturn it. This also will be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it.”’

“You, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘The Lord GOD says this concerning the children of Ammon, 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 as lightning;

while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day has come in the time of the iniquity of the end.

Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, I will judge you.

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.

You will be for fuel to the fire. Your blood will be in the middle of the land. You will be remembered no more; for I, the LORD, have spoken it.”’”

Footnotes

(a)21:6 literally, the breaking of your thighs

(b)21:21 teraphim were household idols that may have been associated with inheritance rights to the household property.