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Parable of the Sword of the LORD

^1 (F1)And the word of the LORD came to me saying,² "Son of man, ^(C1)set your face toward Jerusalem, and ^(F1)(C2)speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;³ and say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, ^(C1)I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the ^(C2)righteous and the wicked.⁴ "Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against ^(C1)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 ^(C1)not return to its sheath again."'⁶ "As for you, son of man, groan with breaking ^(F1)heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.⁷ "And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the ^(C1)news that is coming; and ^(C2)every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will ^(F1)faint and all knees will ^(F2)be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,' declares the Lord ^(F3)GOD."

⁸ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,⁹ "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the LORD.' Say,

'^(C1)A sword, a sword sharpened
And also polished!

¹⁰ 'Sharpened to make a ^(C1)slaughter,
Polished ^(F1)to flash like lightning!'
Or shall we rejoice, the ^(F2)rod of My son ^(C2)despising every tree?¹¹ "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 "^(C1)Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the ^(C2)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 ^(F1)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 ^(C1)doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them,¹⁵ that their ^(C1)hearts may melt, and many ^(C2)fall at all their ^(C3)gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter.¹⁶ "^(F1)Show yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your ^(F2)edge is appointed.¹⁷ "I will also clap My hands together, and I will ^(F1)(C1)appease My wrath; I, the LORD, have spoken."

The Instrument of God's Judgment

¹⁸ The word of the LORD came to me saying,¹⁹ "As for you, son of man, ^(F1)(C1)make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And ^(F2)make a signpost; ^(F3)make it at the head of the way to the city.²⁰ "You shall ^(F1)mark a way for the sword to come to ^(C1)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into ^(C2)fortified Jerusalem.²¹ "For the king of Babylon stands at the ^(F1)parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ^(C1)divination; he ^(C2)shakes the arrows, he consults the ^(F2)(C3)household idols, he looks at the liver.²² "Into his right hand came the divination, 'Jerusalem,' to ^(C1)set battering rams, to open the mouth ^(F1)for slaughter, to lift up the voice with a battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up ramps, to build a siege wall.²³ "And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; ^(C1)they have sworn solemn oaths. But he ^(C2)brings iniquity to remembrance, that they may be seized.

²⁴ "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you will be seized with the hand.²⁵ 'And you, O slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ^(C1)day has come, in the time of the ^(F1)punishment of the end,'²⁶ thus says the Lord GOD, 'Remove the turban and take off the ^(C1)crown; this will ^(F1)no longer be the same. ^(C2)Exalt that which is low and abase that which is high.²⁷ '^(C1)A ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until ^(C2)He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.'

²⁸ "And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their ^(C1)reproach,' and say: 'A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it ^(F1)to ^(C2)consume, that it may be like lightning--²⁹ while they see for you ^(C1)false visions, while they divine lies for you--to place you on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, in the ^(C2)time of the ^(F1)punishment of the end.³⁰ '^(C1)Return it to its sheath. In the ^(C2)place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.³¹ 'I will ^(C1)pour out My indignation on you; I will ^(C2)blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, ^(F1)(C3)skilled in destruction.³² 'You will be ^(F1)(C1)fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will ^(C2)not be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.'"