Ezequiel 21

¹ The word of ye Lord came to me againe, saying,

² Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem,Speak sensibly, that all may understand.and drop [thy word] toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

³ And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I [am] against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee theThat is such which seem to have an outward show of righteousness by observation of the ceremonies of the law.righteous and the wicked.

⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the south to theMeaning, through all the land.north:

⁵ That all flesh may knowe that I the Lorde haue drawen my sworde out of his sheath, and it shall not returne any more.

⁶ Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with breakingAs though you were in extreme anguish.heart; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

⁷ And it shall be, when they say to thee, Why sighest thou? that thou shalt answer,Because of the great noise of the army of the Chaldeans.For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak [as] water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

⁸ Againe, the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying,

⁹ Sonne of man, prophecie, and say, Thus saith the Lorde God, say, A sworde, a sworde both sharpe, and fourbished.

¹⁰ It is sharpened to make a grievous slaughter; it is polished that it mayAnd so cause fear.glitter: should we then make mirth? it despiseth theMeaning, the sceptre showing that it will not spare the king, who would be as the son of God, and in his place.rod of my son,That is, the rest of the people.[as] every tree.

¹¹ And he hath given it to be polished, that it may be handled: the sword is sharpened, and it is polished, to give it into the hand of theThat is, to the army of the Chaldeans.slayer.

¹² Cry and wail, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it [shall be] upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people:Read (Eze_6:11).smite therefore upon [thy] thigh.

¹³ Because [it is] a trial,Ezekiel moved with compassion thus complains fearing the destruction of the kingdom which God had confirmed to David and his posterity by promise, which promise God performed although here it seemed to man's eye that it would utterly perish.and what if [the sword] despise even the rod? it shall be no [more], saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁴ Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smiteThat is, encourage the sword.[thy] hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it [is] the sword of the great [men that are] slain, which entereth into their private chambers.

¹⁵ I haue brought the feare of the sword into all their gates to make their heart to faint, and to multiplie their ruines. Ah it is made bright, and it is dressed for the slaughter.

¹⁶ Go theeProvide for yourself: for you will see God's plague of all parts on this country.one way or other, [either] on the right hand, [or] on the left, wherever thy face [is] set.

¹⁷ I wil also smite mine hands together, & wil cause my wrath to cease. I the Lord haue said it.

¹⁸ The worde of the Lorde came vnto mee againe, saying,

¹⁹ Also, thou son of man, markThis was spoken because when Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah his purpose was also to go against the Ammonites, but doubting in the way which enterprise to undertake first he consulted with his soothsayers and so went against Judah.two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both [ways] shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose [it] at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰ Mark a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, andThat is, to the tribe of Judah that kept themselves in Jerusalem.to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.

²¹ For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made [his] arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked inHe used conjuring and sorcery.the liver.

²² At his right hand was the diuination for Ierusalem to appoint captaines, to open their mouth in the slaughter, and to lift vp their voyce with shouting, to laye engines of warre against the gates, to cast a mount, and to builde a fortresse.

²³ And it shall be to themBecause there was a league between the Jews and the Babylonians, they of Jerusalem will think nothing less than that this thing would come to pass.as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths:That is, Nebuchadnezzar will remember the rebellion of Zedekiah, and so come on them.but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

²⁴ Therefore thus sayeth the Lorde God, Because ye haue made your iniquitie to bee remembred, in discouering your rebellion, that in al your workes your sinnes might appeare: because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵ And thou, profane wickedMeaning, Zedekiah who practised with the Egyptians to make himself high and able to resist the Babylonians.prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity [shall have] an end,

²⁶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove theSome refer this to the priest's attire: for Jehozadak the priest went into captivity with the king.diadem, and take off the crown: this [shall] not [be] the same: exalt [him that is] low, and abase [him that is] high.

²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no [more], until heThat is, to the coming of Messiah: for though the Jews had some sign of government later under the Persians, Greeks and Romans, yet this restitution was not till Christ's coming and at length would be accomplished as was promised, (Gen_49:10).cometh whose right it is; and I will give it [him].

²⁸ And thou, sonne of man, prophecie, and say, Thus saith the Lorde God to the children of Ammon, and to their blasphemie: say thou, I say, The sword, the sword is drawen foorth, and fourbished to the slaughter, to consume, because of the glittering:

²⁹ While they seeThough the Jews and Ammonites would not believe that you, that is the sword, would come upon them, and said that the prophets who threatened spoke lies, yet you will as surely come as though you were already on their necks.vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to thee, to bring thee upon the necks of [them that are] slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity [shall have] an end.

³⁰ Shall I cause it to returne into his sheath? I will iudge thee in the place where thou wast created, euen in the land of thine habitation.

³¹ And I wil powre out mine indignation vpon thee, and will blowe against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliuer thee into the hand of beastly men, and skilfull to destroy.

³² Thou shalt bee in the fire to be deuoured: thy blood shall be in the middes of the lande, and thou shalt be no more remembred: for I the Lord haue spoken it.