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¹ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,² "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and prophesy to the holy places, and prophesy to the ground of Israel;³ and you have said to the ground of Israel, Thus said YHWH: Behold, I [am] against you, || And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, || And have cut off righteous and wicked from you.⁴ Because that I have cut off righteous and wicked from you, || Therefore My sword goes out from its scabbard, || To all flesh, from south to north.⁵ And all flesh has known that I, YHWH, || Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, || It does not turn back anymore.⁶ And you, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, indeed, sigh before their eyes with bitterness,⁷ and it has come to pass, when they say to you, Why are you sighing? That you have said: Because of the report, for it is coming, || And every heart has melted, || And all hands have been feeble, || And every spirit is weak, || And all knees go [as] waters, || Behold, it is coming, indeed, it has been, || A declaration of Lord YHWH."

⁸ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,⁹ "Son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said YHWH: Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.¹⁰ It is sharpened so as to slaughter a slaughter. It is polished so as to have brightness, || Or do we rejoice? It is despising the scepter of My son [as] every tree.¹¹ And He gives it for polishing, || For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened—the sword—and polished, || To give it into the hand of a slayer.¹² Cry and howl, son of man, || For it has been among My people, || It [is] among all the princes of Israel, || My people have been cast to the sword. Therefore strike on your thigh,¹³ Because [it is] a trier, || And what if it is even despising the scepter? It will not be, a declaration of Lord YHWH.¹⁴ And you, son of man, prophesy, || And strike hand on hand, || And the sword is bent a third time, || The sword of the wounded! It [is] the sword of the wounded—the great one, || That is entering the inner chamber to them.¹⁵ To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, || I have set the point of a sword by all their gates. Aah! It is made for brightness, || Wrapped up for slaughter.¹⁶ Take possession of the right, place yourself at the left, || To where your face is appointed.¹⁷ And I also, I strike My hand on My hand, || And have caused My fury to rest; I, YHWH, have spoken."

¹⁸ And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,¹⁹ "And you, son of man, appoint two ways for yourself, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; they come forth from one land, both of them. And create a station; create [it] at the top of the way of the city.²⁰ Appoint a way for the coming of the sword, || To Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, || And to Judah, in fortified Jerusalem.²¹ For the king of Babylon has stood at the head of the way, || At the top of the two ways, to use divination, || He has moved lightly with the arrows, || He has inquired of the teraphim, || He has looked on the liver.²² The divination [for] Jerusalem has been at his right, || To place battering-rams, || To open the mouth with slaughter, || To lift up a voice with shouting, || To place battering-rams against the gates, || To pour out a mound, to build a fortification.²³ And it has been to them as a false divination in their eyes, || Who have sworn oaths to them, || But he is causing iniquity to be remembered [so they] are caught.²⁴ Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, || In your transgressions being revealed, || For your sins being seen, in all your doings, || Because of your being remembered, || You are caught by the hand.²⁵ And you, wounded, wicked one, || Prince of Israel, whose day has come, || In the time of the iniquity of the end,²⁶ Thus said Lord YHWH: Turn aside the turban, and carry away the crown, || This—not this—make high the low, || And make low the high.²⁷ An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, || Also this has not been until the coming of Him, || Whose [is] the judgment, and I have given it.

²⁸ And you, son of man, prophesy, and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and you have said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, || Polished to the utmost for brightness!²⁹ In seeing a vain thing for you, || In divining a lie for you, || To put you on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day has come, || In the time of the iniquity of the end.³⁰ Turn [it] back to its scabbard; I judge you || In the place where you were produced, || In the land of your birth.³¹ And I have poured My indignation on you, || I blow against you with [the] fire of My wrath, || And have given you into the hand of brutish men—craftsmen of destruction.³² You are fuel for the fire, || Your blood is in the midst of the land, || You are not remembered, || For I, YHWH, have spoken!"