Ezekiel 21:1-32 NIV
Babylon as God’s Sword of
Judgment
1The Word of the Lord came to me: 2“Son of man,
set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the Sanctuary. Prophesy
against the land of Israel 3and
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. 4Because I am
going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, My Sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5Then all
people will know that I the Lord have drawn My Sword from its sheath; it
will not return again.’
6“Therefore groan, son of
man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief. 7And 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.”
“ ‘A sword, a sword,
10sharpened for the
slaughter,
polished to flash like
lightning!
“ ‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of My royal son? The sword
despises every such stick.
11“ ‘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.
12Cry 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.
13“ ‘Testing will surely
come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue ?
declares the Sovereign Lord.’
14“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.
15So that hearts may melt
with fear
and the fallen be many,
at all their gates.
Look! It is forged to
strike like lightning,
it is grasped for
slaughter.
16Slash to the right, you
sword,
then to the left,
wherever your blade is
turned.
and My Wrath will subside.
I the Lord have spoken.”
18The Word of the Lord came to me: 19“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. 20Mark out one
road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites and another against
Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21For
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. 22Into
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. 23It 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.
24“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.
25“ ‘You profane and
wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come, whose time of punishment has
reached its climax, 26this
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. 27A
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.’
28“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!
29Despite 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.
30“ ‘Let the sword return
to its sheath.
In the place where you
were created,
in the land of your
ancestry,
I will judge you.
and breathe out My Fiery Anger against you;
I will deliver you into
the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in
destruction.
32You will be fuel for the
fire,
your blood will be shed
in your land,
you will be remembered
no more;
for I the Lord have spoken.’ ”
This chapter contains
an explanation of a prophecy in the latter part of the preceding chapter; and a
new one, concerning the sword of the Chaldeans, and the destruction of the Jews
and Ammonites by it.
The prophecy of the
fire in the forest is explained, Ezekiel 21:1, upon which
the prophet is directed to show his concern at it by sighing, in order to
awaken the attention of the people to it, Ezekiel 21:6, then follows
a prophecy of a very sharp and bright sword, which should do great execution
upon the people and princes of Israel; and therefore the prophet, in order to
affect them, with it, is bid to howl and cry, and smite on his thigh; and smite
his hands together, and the Lord says He would do so; all which is designed to set
forth the greatness of the calamity and the distress, Ezekiel 21:8.
Next the prophet is
ordered to represent the king of Babylon as at a place where two ways met, and
as at a loss which way to take, and as determined by divination to go to
Jerusalem first, Ezekiel 21:18,
and then Zedekiah, the then reigning prince of Israel, has his doom pronounced
on him, and he is ordered to be stripped of his kingship; and an intimation is given that there should be no more king over Israel of the house of
David until Jesus
the Messiah came, Ezekiel 21:26.
And the chapter is
concluded with a prophecy of the destruction of the Ammonites in their own
land, which should certainly be, though their diviners might, say the contrary, Ezekiel 21:28.