¹ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, set thy face towards Jerusalem, and drop thy word towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

³ And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

⁵ That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn my sword out of its sheath: it shall not return any more.

⁶ Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

⁷ And it shall be, when they say to thee, Why sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.

⁸ Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹ Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰ It is sharpened to make a grievous slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

¹¹ And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹² Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.

¹³ Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemneth even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁴ Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their private chambers.

¹⁵ I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is sharpened for the slaughter.

¹⁶ Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

¹⁷ I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.

¹⁸ The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,

¹⁹ Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both ways shall come forth from one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.

²⁰ Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.

²¹ For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination; he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.

²² At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.

²³ And it shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

²⁴ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are disclosed, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.

²⁵ And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end,

²⁶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

²⁷ I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he cometh whose right it is; and I will give it him.

²⁸ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering:

²⁹ While they see vanity to thee, while they divine a lie to thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end.

³⁰ 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 nativity.

³¹ And I will pour out my indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skillful to destroy.

³² Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

¹ Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

² Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,

³ And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

⁴ They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

⁵ Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶ Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,

⁷ he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.

⁸ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹ For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,

¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.

¹² Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³ Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds in sunder.

¹⁵ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶ For he has broken the gates of brass, and cut through bars of iron.

¹⁷ Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.

¹⁸ Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

¹⁹ Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.

²⁰ He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.

²¹ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works to the children of men!

²² Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with singing.

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters;

²⁴ These see Yahweh's works, and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵ For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.

²⁶ They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.

²⁷ They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

²⁸ Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.

²⁹ He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.

³⁰ Then they are glad because it is calm, so he brings them to their desired haven.

³¹ Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful works for the children of men!

³² Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.

³³ He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,

³⁴ and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

³⁵ He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.

³⁶ There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,

³⁷ sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.

³⁸ He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn't allow their livestock to decrease.

³⁹ Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.

⁴⁰ He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.

⁴¹ Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.

⁴² The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.

⁴³ Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of Yahweh. A Song. A Psalm by David.