The Parable of the Lord's Sword

1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2Therefore prophesy, son of man, set thy face steadfastly toward Jerusalem, and look toward their holy places, and thou shalt prophesy against the land of Israel, 3and thou shalt say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and I will destroy out of thee the transgressor and unrighteous. 4Because I will destroy out of thee the unrighteous and the transgressor, therefore so shall my sword come forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: 5and all flesh shall know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more. 6And thou, son of man, groan with the breaking of thy loins; thou shalt even groan heavily in their sight. 7And it shall come to pass, if they shall say to thee, Wherefore dost thou groan? that thou shalt say, For the report; because it comes: and every heart shall break, and all hands shall become feeble, and all flesh and every spirit shall faint, and all thighs shall be defiled with moisture: behold, it comes, saith the Lord.

8And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

9Son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, Sword, sword, be sharpened and rage,

10that thou mayest slay victims; be sharpened that thou mayest be bright, ready for slaughter, slay, set at nought, despise every tree.

11And he made it ready for his hand to hold: the sword is sharpened, it is ready to put into the hand of the slayer. 12Cry out and howl, son of man: for this sword is come upon my people, this sword is come upon all the princes of Israel: they shall be as strangers: judgment with the sword is come upon my people: therefore clap thine hands, for sentence has been passed: 13and what if even the tribe be rejected? it shall not be, saith the Lord God.

14And thou, son of man, prophesy, and clap thine hands, and take a second sword: the third sword is the sword of the slain, the great sword of the slain: and thou shalt strike them with amazement, lest the heart should faint 15and the weak ones be multiplied at every gate—they are given up to the slaughter of the sword: it is well fitted for slaughter, it is well fitted for glittering. 16And do thou go on, sharpen thyself on the right and on the left whithersoever thy face may set itself. 17And I also will clap my hands, and let loose my fury: I the Lord have spoken it.

18And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 19and thou, son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may enter in: the two shall go forth of one country; and there shall be a force at the top of the way of the city, thou shalt set it at the top of the way, 20that the sword may enter in upon Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and upon Judea, and upon Jerusalem in the midst thereof. 21For the king of Babylon shall stand on the old way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination, to make bright the arrow, and to enquire of the graven images, and to examine the victims. 22On his right was the divination against Jerusalem, to cast a mound, to open the mouth in shouting, to lift up the voice with crying, to cast a mound against her gates, to cast up a heap, and to build forts. 23And he was to them as one using divination before them, and he himself recounting his iniquities, that they might be borne in mind.

24Therefore thus saith the Lord, Because ye have caused your iniquities to be remembered, in the discovery of your wickedness, so that your sins should be seen, in all your wickedness and in your evil practices; because ye have caused remembrance of them, in these shall ye be taken. 25And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day, even an end, is come in a sea of iniquity, thus saith the Lord; 26Thou hast taken off the mitre and put on the crown, it shall not have such another after it: thou hast abased that which was high, and exalted that which was low. 27Injustice, injustice, injustice, will I make it: woe to it: such shall it be until he comes to whom it belongs; and I will deliver it to him.

28And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and thou shalt say, O sword, sword, drawn for slaughter, and drawn for destruction, awake, that thou mayest gleam. 29While thou art seeing vain visions, and while thou art prophesying falsehoods, to bring thyself upon the necks of ungodly transgressors, the day is come, even an end, in a season of iniquity. 30Turn, rest not in this place wherein thou wert born: in thine own land will I judge thee. 31And I will pour out my wrath upon thee, I will blow upon thee with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver thee into the hands of barbarians skilled in working destruction. 32Thou shalt be fuel for fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of thy land; there shall be no remembrance at all of thee: for I the Lord have spoken it.