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Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment
The word of the Lord came to me:
The word of the Lord came to me:
“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel
and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.
Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.
Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.
Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’
And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.
“Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief.
“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes.
And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand go limp; every spirit will become faint and every leg will be wet with urine.’ It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.
“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“ ‘A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished —
“ ‘A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished —
“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say:
“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
“A sword, a sword is sharpened
and also polished,
sharpened for the slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
“ ‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.
polished to flash like lightning!
“ ‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.
“ ‘The sword is appointed to be polished,
to be grasped with the hand;
it is sharpened and polished,
made ready for the hand of the slayer.
to be grasped with the hand;
it is sharpened and polished,
made ready for the hand of the slayer.
So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.
Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is against my people;
it is against all the princes of Israel.
They are thrown to the sword
along with my people.
Therefore beat your breast.
for it is against my people;
it is against all the princes of Israel.
They are thrown to the sword
along with my people.
Therefore beat your breast.
Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.
“ ‘Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.’
“So then, son of man, prophesy
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice,
even three times.
It is a sword for slaughter —
a sword for great slaughter,
closing in on them from every side.
and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice,
even three times.
It is a sword for slaughter —
a sword for great slaughter,
closing in on them from every side.
Slash to the right, you sword,
then to the left,
wherever your blade is turned.
then to the left,
wherever your blade is turned.
Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.
I too will strike my hands together,
and my wrath will subside.
I the Lord have spoken.”
and my wrath will subside.
I the Lord have spoken.”
I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken.”
“Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost where the road branches off to the city.
“As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.
Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem.
Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified.
For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.
Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry, to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp and to erect siege works.
Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind them of their guilt and take them captive.
But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.
“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do — because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
“Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt 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 shall be taken in hand.
“ ‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has reached its climax,
this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown. It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.
thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.
A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come; to him I will give it.’
A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
“And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites and their insults:
“ ‘A sword, a sword,
drawn for the slaughter,
polished to consume
and to flash like lightning!
“ ‘A sword, a sword,
drawn for the slaughter,
polished to consume
and to flash like lightning!
“And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning —
Despite false visions concerning you
and lying divinations about you,
it will be laid on the necks
of the wicked who are to be slain,
whose day has come,
whose time of punishment has reached its climax.
and lying divinations about you,
it will be laid on the necks
of the wicked who are to be slain,
whose day has come,
whose time of punishment has reached its climax.
while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you — to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
“ ‘Let the sword return to its sheath.
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your ancestry,
I will judge you.
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your ancestry,
I will judge you.
Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
I will pour out my wrath on you
and breathe out my fiery anger against you;
I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in destruction.
and breathe out my fiery anger against you;
I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in destruction.
And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.