Parable of the Sword of the LORD
1 And F265 the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 "Son of man, set R663 your face toward Jerusalem, and speak R664 F266 against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, `Thus says the LORD, "Behold, I R665 am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous R666 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 all R667 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 not R668 return to its sheath again."' 6 "As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart F267 and bitter grief, groan in their sight. 7 "And when they say to you, `Why do you groan?' you shall say, `Because of the news R669 that is coming; and every R670 heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint F268 and all knees will be F269 weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,' declares the Lord GOD F270 ."
8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, prophesy and say, `Thus says the LORD.' Say, `A R671 sword, a sword sharpened And also polished! 10 `Sharpened to make a slaughter, R672
Polished to F271 flash like lightning!'
Or shall we rejoice, the rod F272 of My son despising R673 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 "Cry R674 out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the officials R675 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 rod F273 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 doubled R676 the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, 15 that their hearts R677 may melt, and many fall R678 at all their gates. R679 I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter. 16 "Show F274 yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your edge F275 is appointed. 17 "I will also clap My hands together, and I will appease R680 F276 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, make R681 F277 two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And make F278 a signpost; make F279 it at the head of the way to the city. 20 "You shall mark F280 a way for the sword to come to Rabbah R682 of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into fortified R683 Jerusalem. 21 "For the king of Babylon stands at the parting F281 of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; R684 he shakes R685 the arrows, he consults the household R686 F282 idols, he looks at the liver. 22 "Into his right hand came the divination, `Jerusalem,' to set R687 battering rams, to open the mouth for F283 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; they R688 have sworn solemn oaths. But he brings R689 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 day R690 has come, in the time of the punishment F284 of the end,' 26 thus says the Lord GOD, `Remove the turban and take off the crown; R691 this will no F285 longer be the same. Exalt R692 that which is low and abase that which is high. 27 `A R693 ruin, a ruin, a ruin, I will make it. This also will be no more until He R694 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 reproach,' R695 and say: `A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to F286 consume, R696 that it may be like lightning-- 29 while they see for you false R697 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 time R698 of the punishment F287 of the end. 30 `Return R699 it to its sheath. In the place R700 where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. 31 `I will pour R701 out My indignation on you; I will blow R702 on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled R703 F288 in destruction. 32 `You will be fuel R704 F289 for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will not R705 be remembered, for I, the LORD, have spoken.' "
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