^{1 6} And the word of Jehovah was to^▵ me, saying,

^{2 7} Son of man, set thy face toward^▵ Jerusalem, and cause thy word to drop·​·down toward^▵ the sanctuaries, and prophesy to^▵ the ground of Israel,

^{3 8} and say to the ground of Israel, Thus says Jehovah; Behold, I^◦ am against^▵ thee, and will bring·​·out My sword from its sheath, and will cut·​·off from thee the just and the wicked.

^{4 9} Because I will cut·​·off from thee the just and the wicked, therefore shall My sword go·​·out from its sheath to^▵ all flesh from south to north.

^{5 10} And all flesh shall know that I^◦, Jehovah, have brought·​·out My sword from its sheath; it shall not return any·​·more.

^{6 11} And sigh, thou^◦ son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before^▫ their eyes.

^{7 12} And it shall be, that they shall say to^▵ thee, Over what dost thou^◦ sigh? And thou shalt say, For^◦ the report, that it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be·​·slack, and every spirit shall be·​·dim, and all knees shall go as water: behold, it comes, and shall be, says^◦ the Lord Jehovih^*.

^{8 13} And the word of Jehovah was unto^▵ me, saying,

^{9 14} Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Jehovah: say, A sword, a sword is sharpened^◦, and also is·​·furbished;

^{10 15} so·​·that it is sharpened^◦ to butcher a butchering; so·​·that it is furbished so·​·that it may have^◦ lightning; or we have·​·joy in the scepter of My son, rejecting every tree.

^{11 16} And He has given it to be·​·furbished, to lay·​·hold of in the palm of the hand; this^◦ sword is sharpened^◦, and it^◦ is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer.

^{12 17} Cry and howl, son of man; for^◦ it^◦ shall be upon^◦ My people, it^◦ shall be upon^◦ all the chiefs of Israel: hurlings to^▵ the sword shall be with^◦ My people; slap therefore upon the thigh.

^{13 18} For^◦ it is a test; and what if the sword reject even the scepter? It shall not be, says^◦ the Lord Jehovih.

^{14 19} And thou^◦, son of man, prophesy, and smite palm to^▵ palm^*, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain; it^◦ is the sword of the great who are slain, penetrating^* to them in their chambers.

^{15 20} In·​·order·​·to dissolve the heart and to multiply the stumblingblocks, against all their gates I have given the point^◦ of the sword. Ah, it is made into^◦ lightning, sharpened^▵ for the butchering!

^{16 21} Unite thyself to turn·​·right; set thyself to turn·​·left, wherever^▵ thy faces congregate.

^{17 22} And even I^◦ will smite My palm to^▵ my palm, and I will cause My fury to rest; I^◦, Jehovah, have spoken.

^{18 23} And the word of Jehovah was unto^▵ me, saying,

^{19 24} And thou^◦ son of man, set for thee two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; from one land shall the two of them go·​·out: and cut·​·down a space, at the head of the way of the city, cut· it ·down.

^{20 25} Thou shalt set a way for the sword to come to Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into Jerusalem the fortified.

^{21 26} For the king of Babylon stood at^▵ the parting^* of the way, at the head of the two ways, to divine with divination; he was·​·swift with his arrows, asking of the teraphim, he saw into the liver.

^{22 27} At his right·​·hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set rams^▫, to open the mouth with murder, to lift·​·up^◦ the voice with shouting, to set rams^▫ against the gates, to pour·​·out an embankment, to build a ramp.

^{23 28} And it shall be to them as vain divining in their eyes of those who have promised promises to them; but He^◦ will bring·​·to·​·remembrance the iniquity of^◦ those who are caught.

^{24 29} Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovih: Because you have caused your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are revealed, so that in all your actions your sins are seen; because, I say, that you are remembered, you shall be caught in the palm of the hand.

^{25 30} And thou^◦, the slain wicked one, the chief of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of iniquity it is the end.

^{26 31} Thus says the Lord Jehovih, Remove the miter, and lift·​·up^◦ the crown; this shall not be this; the low shall be made·​·lofty, and the lofty shall be made·​·low.

^{27 32} Upside·​·down, upside·​·down, upside·​·down, I will set it; even this shall not be, until He come who has^◦ the judgment; and I will give it.

^{28 33} And thou^◦, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovih to^▵ the sons of Ammon, and to^▵ their reproach; and say, The sword, the sword is exposed^◦, it is·​·furbished for the butchering, to eat·​·up for the sake^◦ of the lightning;

^{29 34} when they behold vanity for thee, when they divine a lie unto thee, to put^◦ thee upon the necks of the slain, of the wicked, whose day is come; in the time of their iniquity it is the end.

^{30 35} Shall I cause it to return into^▵ its sheath? I will judge thee in the place where^▵ thou wast created, in the land of thy negotiations.

^{31 36} And I will spill·​·out My indignation upon thee, I will puff against thee in the fire of My wrath, and give thee into the hand of burning men^◦, craftsmen of corruption.

^{32 37} Thou shalt be for food for the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt not be remembered; for I^◦, Jehovah, have spoken.

¹ "Woe to the rebellious children," says Yahweh, "who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,

² who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

³ Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

⁴ For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors have come to Hanes.

⁵ They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can't profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach."

⁶ The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.

⁷ For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still.

⁸ Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.

⁹ For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh;

¹⁰ who tell the seers, "Don't see!" and to the prophets, "Don't prophesy to us right things. tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits.

¹¹ Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us."

¹² Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it;

¹³ therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.

¹⁴ He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won't be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern."

¹⁵ For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, "You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence." You refused,

¹⁶ but you said, "No, for we will flee on horses;" therefore you will flee; and, "We will ride on the swift;" therefore those who pursue you will be swift.

¹⁷ One thousand will flee at the threat of One. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.

¹⁸ Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

¹⁹ For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.

²⁰ Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won't be hidden anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers;

²¹ and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it."

²² You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!"

²³ He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.

²⁴ The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.

²⁵ There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

²⁶ Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with.

²⁷ Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire.

²⁸ His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples.

²⁹ You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh's mountain, to Israel's Rock.

³⁰ Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.

³¹ For through the voice of Yahweh the Assyrian will be dismayed. He will strike him with his rod.

³² Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons.

³³ For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh's breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.