The Lord Has Drawn His Sword
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a The word of the LORD came to me:
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1"Son of man, 2set your face toward Jerusalem and 3preach against the sanctuaries.b Prophesy against the land of Israel
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and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: 4Behold, I am against you and will draw 5my sword from its sheath and 6will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.
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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.
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7And all flesh shall know that I am the LORD. I have drawn 8my sword from its sheath; 9it shall not be sheathed again.
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"As for you, son of man, 10groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, 11groan before their eyes.
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12And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news 13that it is coming. 14Every heart will melt, and 15all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and 16all knees will be weak as water. 17Behold, it is 18coming, and it will be fulfilled,'" declares the Lord GOD.
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And the word of the LORD came to me:
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19"Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: 20"A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished,
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21sharpened for slaughter, 22polished to flash like lightning!(Or 23shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, 24with everything of wood.)c
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So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished 25to be given into the hand of the slayer.
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26Cry 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. 27Strike therefore upon your thigh.
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For it will not be a testing--what could it do if you despise 28the rod?"d declares the Lord GOD.
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"As for you, 29son of man, prophesy. 30Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, 31yes, three times,e the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,
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that their hearts may melt, and many stumble.f At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; 32it is taken upg for slaughter.
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Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.
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The word of the LORD came to me again:
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"As for you, son of man, mark two ways for 36the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make 37a signpost; make it 38at the head of the way to a city.
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Mark a way 39for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified.
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For the king of Babylon stands 40at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults 41the teraphim;h he looks at the liver.
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Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, 42to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, 43to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
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But to them it will seem like a false divination. 44They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, 45that they may be taken.
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"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, 46you shall be taken in hand.
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And you, O profanei47wicked one, prince of Israel, 48whose day has come, 49the time of your final punishment,
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thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. 50Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.
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A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. 51This also shall not be, 52until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
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"And you, 53son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD54concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, 55A sword, a sword 56is drawn for the slaughter. 57It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning--
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while 58they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you--to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, 59whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
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60Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, 61I will judge you.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)