Ezekiel 21:9-27

⁹“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:

‘A sword, a sword,

sharpened and polished—

¹⁰it is sharpened for the slaughter,

polished to flash like lightning!

Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son?

The sword despises every such stick.

¹¹The sword is appointed to be polished,

to be grasped in the hand.

It is sharpened and polished,

to be placed in the hand of the slayer.

¹²Cry out and wail,

O son of man,

for the sword is wielded against My people;

it is against all the princes of Israel!

They are tossed to the sword with My people;

therefore strike your thigh.

¹³Surely testing will come!

And what if even the scepter,

which the sword despises,

does not continue?’

¹⁴‘So then, son of man,

prophesy and strike your hands together.

Let the sword strike two times,

even three.

It is a sword that slays,

a sword of great slaughter

closing in on every side!

¹⁵So that their hearts may melt

and many may stumble,

I have appointed at all their gates

a sword for slaughter.

Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning;

it is drawn for slaughter.

¹⁶Slash to the right;

set your blade to the left —

wherever your blade is directed.

¹⁷I too will strike My hands together,

and I will satisfy My wrath.’

¹⁸Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁹“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city.

²⁰Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

²²In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.

²³It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

²⁴Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds — because you have come to remembrance— you shall be taken in hand.

²⁵And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,

the day has come for your final punishment.’

²⁶This is what the Lord GOD says:

‘Remove the turban,

and take off the crown.

Things will not remain as they are:

Exalt the lowly

and bring low the exalted.

²⁷A ruin, a ruin,

I will make it a ruin!

And it will not be restored

until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs,

to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.’

Related Resources from Heartlight

Cross References for Ezekiel 21:9-27

The Berean Standard Bible