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1(21:6) The word of the Lord came to me:[#sn Ezek 21:1 in the English Bible is 21:6 in the Hebrew text (BHS). See the note at 20:45.]
2“Son of man, turn toward Jerusalem and speak out against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel[#tn Heb “set your face toward.”; #map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.]
3and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.[#tn Heb “the land of Israel.”; #tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) draws attention to something and has been translated here as a verb.; #tn Or “I challenge you.” The phrase “I am against you” may be a formula for challenging someone to combat or a duel. See D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:201-2, and P. Humbert, “Die Herausforderungsformel ‘h!nn#n' ?l?K>,’” ZAW 45 (1933): 101-8.; #sn This is the sword of judgment, see Isa 31:8; 34:6; 66:16.; #sn Ezekiel elsewhere pictures the Lord’s judgment as discriminating between the righteous and the wicked (9:4-6; 18:1-20; see as well Pss 1 and 11) and speaks of the preservation of a remnant (3:21; 6:8; 12:16). Perhaps here he exaggerates for rhetorical effect in an effort to subdue any false optimism. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:25-26; D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:669-70; and W. Zimmerli, Ezekiel (Hermeneia), 1:424-25.]
4Because I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked, my sword will go out from its sheath against everyone from the south to the north.[#tn Heb “all flesh” (also in the following verse).; #tn Heb “Negev.” The Negev is the south country.]
5Then everyone will know that I am the Lord, who drew my sword from its sheath – it will not be sheathed again!’
6“And you, son of man, groan with an aching heart and bitterness; groan before their eyes.[#tn Heb “breaking loins.”]
7When they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you will reply, ‘Because of the report that has come. Every heart will melt with fear and every hand will be limp; everyone will faint and every knee will be wet with urine.’ Pay attention – it is coming and it will happen, declares the sovereign Lord .”[#tn Heb “every spirit will be dim.”; #sn This expression depicts in a very vivid way how they will be overcome with fear. See the note on the same phrase in 7:17.]
8The word of the Lord came to me:
9“Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword is sharpened,
and also polished.
10It is sharpened for slaughter,
it is polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Should we rejoice in the scepter of my son? No! The sword despises every tree!
11“‘He gave it to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand –
the sword is sharpened, it is polished –
giving it into the hand of the executioner.
12Cry out and moan, son of man,
for it is wielded against my people;
against all the princes of Israel.
They are delivered up to the sword, along with my people.
Therefore, strike your thigh.
13“‘For testing will come, and what will happen when the scepter, which the sword despises, is no more? declares the sovereign Lord .’[#tn Heb “For testing (will come) and what if also a scepter, it despises, will not be?” The translation understands the subject of the verb “despises,” which is a feminine form in the Hebrew text, to be the sword (which is a feminine noun) mentioned in the previous verses. The text is very difficult and any rendering is uncertain.]
14“And you, son of man, prophesy,
and clap your hands together.
Let the sword strike twice, even three times!
It is a sword for slaughter,
a sword for the great slaughter surrounding them.
15So hearts melt with fear and many stumble.
At all their gates I have stationed the sword for slaughter.
Ah! It is made to flash, it is drawn for slaughter!
16Cut sharply on the right!
Swing to the left,
wherever your edge is appointed to strike.
17I too will clap my hands together,
I will exhaust my rage;
I the Lord have spoken.”
18The word of the Lord came to me:
19“You, son of man, mark out two routes for the king of Babylon’s sword to take; both of them will originate in a single land. Make a signpost and put it at the beginning of the road leading to the city.
20Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.”[#tc The MT reads “Judah in fortified Jerusalem,” a geographic impossibility. The translation follows the LXX, which assumes בְּתוֹכָהּ (bÿtokhah, “in it”) for בְּצוּרָה (bÿtsurah, “fortified”). sn As the Babylonians approached from the north, one road would branch off to the left and lead down the east side of the Jordan River to Ammon. The other road would veer to the right and lead down west of the Jordan to Jerusalem.]
21For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road at the head of the two routes. He looks for omens: He shakes arrows, he consults idols, he examines animal livers.[#tn Heb “mother.”; #sn Mesopotamian kings believed that the gods revealed the future through omens. They employed various divination techniques, some of which are included in the list that follows. A particularly popular technique was the examination and interpretation of the livers of animals. See R. R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 90-110.; #tn This word refers to personal idols that were apparently used for divination purposes (Gen 31:19; 1 Sam 19:13, 16).; #tn Heb “sees.”; #tn Heb “the liver.”]
22Into his right hand comes the portent for Jerusalem – to set up battering rams, to give the signal for slaughter, to shout out the battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to erect a siege ramp, to build a siege wall.[#tn Or “on the right side,” i.e., the omen mark on the right side of the liver.; #tn Heb “to open the mouth” for slaughter.; #tn Heb “to raise up a voice in a battle cry.”]
23But those in Jerusalem will view it as a false omen. They have sworn solemn oaths, but the king of Babylon will accuse them of violations in order to seize them.[#tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people in Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #sn When the people of Judah realized the Babylonians’ intentions, they would object on grounds that they had made a treaty with the Babylonian king (see 17:13).; #tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.; #tn Or “iniquity.”; #tn Heb “and he will remind of guilt for the purpose of being captured.” The king would counter their objections by pointing out that they had violated their treaty with him (see 17:18).]
24“Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you have brought up your own guilt by uncovering your transgressions and revealing your sins through all your actions, for this reason you will be taken by force.[#tn Heb “caused to be remembered.”; #tn Heb “Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt when your transgressions are uncovered so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds – because you are remembered, by the hand you will be seized.”]
25“‘As for you, profane and wicked prince of Israel,[#tn This probably refers to King Zedekiah.]
whose day has come, the time of final punishment,
26this is what the sovereign Lord says:
Tear off the turban,
take off the crown!
Things must change!
Exalt the lowly,
bring down the proud!
27A total ruin I will make it![#tn Heb “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it.” The threefold repetition of the noun “ruin” is for emphasis and draws attention to the degree of ruin that would take place. See IBHS 233 §12.5a and GKC 431-32 §133.k. The pronominal suffix (translated “it”) on the verb “make” is feminine in Hebrew. The probable antecedent is the “turban/crown” (both nouns are feminine in form) mentioned in verse 26. The point is that the king’s royal splendor would be completely devastated as judgment overtook his realm and brought his reign to a violent end.]
It will come to an end
when the one arrives to whom I have assigned judgment.’
28“As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; say:[#tn Heb “their reproach.”]
“‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume, to flash like lightning –
29while seeing false visions for you
and reading lying omens for you –
to place that sword on the necks of the profane wicked,
whose day has come,
the time of final punishment.
30Return it to its sheath![#sn Once the Babylonian king’s sword (vv. 19-20) has carried out its assigned task, the Lord commands it to halt and announces that Babylon itself will also experience his judgment. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 2:28.]
In the place where you were created,
in your native land, I will judge you.
31I will pour out my anger on you;
the fire of my fury I will blow on you.
I will hand you over to brutal men,
who are skilled in destruction.
32You will become fuel for the fire –
your blood will stain the middle of the land;
you will no longer be remembered,
for I, the Lord , have spoken.’”