¹ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

² `Son of man, set thy face unto Jerusalem, and prophesy unto the holy places, and prophesy unto the ground of Israel;

³ and thou hast said unto the ground of Israel: Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, And have brought out My sword from its scabbard, And have cut off from thee righteous and wicked.

⁴ Because that I have cut off from thee righteous and wicked, Therefore go out doth My sword from its scabbard, Unto all flesh, from south to north.

⁵ And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Have brought out My sword from its scabbard, It doth not turn back any more.

⁶ And thou, son of man, sigh with breaking of loins, yea, with bitterness thou dost sigh before their eyes,

⁷ and it hath come to pass, when they say unto thee, For what art thou sighing? that thou hast said: Because of the report, for it is coming, And melted hath every heart, And feeble hath been all hands, And weak is every spirit, And all knees go -- waters, Lo, it is coming, yea, it hath been, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

⁹ `Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said, Thus said Jehovah, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also polished.

¹⁰ So as to slaughter a slaughter it is sharpened. So as to have brightness it is polished, Desire hath rejoiced the sceptre of my son, It is despising every tree.

¹¹ And he giveth it for polishing, For laying hold of by the hand. It is sharpened -- the sword -- and polished, To give it into the hand of a slayer.

¹² Cry and howl, son of man, For it hath been among My people, It [is] among all the princes of Israel, Cast unto the sword have been My people. Therefore strike on thy thigh,

¹³ Because [it is] a trier, And what if even the sceptre it is despising? It shall not be, an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁴ And thou, son of man, prophesy, And smite hand on hand, And bent is the sword a third time, The sword of the wounded! It [is] the sword of the wounded -- the great one, That is entering the inner chamber to them.

¹⁵ To melt the heart, and to multiply the ruins, By all their gates I have set the point of a sword. Ah, it is made for brightness, Wrapt up for slaughter.

¹⁶ Take possession of the right, place thyself at the left, Whither thy face is appointed.

¹⁷ And I also, I smite My hand on my hand, And have caused My fury to rest; I, Jehovah, have spoken.'

¹⁸ And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

¹⁹ `And thou, son of man, appoint for thee two ways, for the coming in of the sword of the king of Babylon; from one land they come forth, both of them, and a station prepare thou, at the top of the way of the city prepare [it].

²⁰ A way appoint for the coming of the sword, Unto Rabbath of the sons of Ammon, And to Judah, in Jerusalem -- the fenced.

²¹ For stood hath the king of Babylon at the head of the way, At the top of the two ways, to use divination, He hath moved lightly with the arrows, He hath asked at the teraphim, He hath looked on the liver.

²² At his right hath been the divination -- Jerusalem, To place battering-rams, To open the mouth with slaughter, To lift up a voice with shouting, To place battering-rams against the gates, To pour out a mount, to build a fortification.

²³ And it hath been to them as a false divination in their eyes, Who have sworn oaths to them, And he is causing iniquity to be remembered to be caught.

²⁴ Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your causing your iniquity to be remembered, In your transgressions being revealed, For your sins being seen, in all your doings, Because of your being remembered, By the hand ye are caught.

²⁵ And thou, wounded, wicked one, Prince of Israel, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end!

²⁶ Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn aside the mitre, and bear away the crown, This -- not this -- the low make high, And the high make low.

²⁷ An overturn, overturn, overturn, I make it, Also this hath not been till the coming of Him, Whose [is] the judgment, and I have given it.

²⁸ And thou, son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah concerning the sons of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: and thou hast said: A sword, a sword, open for slaughter, Polished to the utmost for brightness!

²⁹ In the seeing for thee of a vain thing, In the divining for thee of a lie, To put thee on the necks of the wounded of the wicked, whose day hath come, In the time of the iniquity of the end.

³⁰ Turn [it] back unto its scabbard, In the place where thou wast produced, In the land of thy birth I do judge thee.

³¹ And I have poured on thee Mine indignation, With fire of My wrath I blow against thee, And have given thee into the hand of brutish men -- artificers of destruction.

³² To the fire thou art for fuel, Thy blood is in the midst of the land, Thou art not remembered, For I, Jehovah, have spoken!'

¹ The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

² Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

³ and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

⁴ he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

⁵ He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.

⁶ It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷ There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

⁸ It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

⁹ Say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots.

¹⁰ Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.

¹¹ Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

¹² Say now to the rebellious house, Don't you know what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon:

¹³ and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;

¹⁴ that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

¹⁶ As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.

¹⁸ For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.

²⁰ I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.

²¹ All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

²² Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain:

²³ in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

²⁴ All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.