A Vision of the Avenging Sword of Yahweh

¹ And the word of Yahweh ⌞came⌟¹ to me, ⌞saying⌟,²

1. Literally “was”
2. Literally “to say”

² “Son of man,¹ set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”

³ And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.

⁴ Because¹ I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to² all creatures³ from south to north.

1. Hebrew “Because that”
2. Or “against”
3. Hebrew “creature”

⁵ And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!” ’

⁶ And you, son of man,¹ groan ⌞with shaking hips⌟,² and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “with destruction of loins”

⁷ ⌞And then⌟¹ when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!” ⌞declares⌟² the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “and it will be”
2. Literally “declaration of”

⁸ And the word of Yahweh ⌞came⌟¹ to me, ⌞saying⌟,²

1. Literally “was”
2. Literally “to say”

⁹ “Son of man,¹ prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”

¹⁰ It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, ⌞polished to flash like lightning⌟!¹ Or will we rejoice?² A rod, my son, is despising every tree.³

1. Literally “so that there be for her lightning”
2. Or “be pleased”
3. Or “stick” of correction; Hebrew is uncertain in meaning here

¹¹ And he gives it to be polished, ⌞to be seized by the hand⌟.¹ It is sharpened—a sword—and it is polished to give it into the hand of the killer.

1. Literally “to take hold of in the palm of the hand”

¹² Cry and wail, son of man,¹ for it is against my people; it is against all of the princes of Israel. They are thrown to the sword with my people; therefore ⌞strike your thigh⌟.²

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “strike on the thigh”

¹³ For ⌞examine⌟!¹ And what if also the rod will not be despising?’ ⌞declares⌟² the Lord Yahweh.

1. Literally “it was tested”
2. Literally “declaration of”

¹⁴ And you, son of man,¹ prophesy ⌞and clap your hands⌟.² And the sword will ⌞strike twice⌟;³ let it happen a third time. It is a sword of the dead, the sword of the great dead that is surrounding them,

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “strike hand to hand”
3. Literally “be doubled”

¹⁵ so that a heart melts, and the fallen ⌞multiply⌟¹ at all of their gates. I gave a sword for slaughter, and alas! It is made for flashing, it is grasped² for slaughtering.

1. Literally “be made many”
2. Or “polished”

¹⁶ Gather together, strike to the right; cause to go to the left, where your ⌞edge⌟¹ is directed.

1. Literally “face”

¹⁷ And also ⌞I myself⌟¹ will ⌞clap my hands⌟,² and I will satisfy my rage! I, Yahweh, I have spoken.”

1. Literally “I, I”
2. Literally “strike my hand to my hand”

¹⁸ And the word of Yahweh ⌞came⌟¹ to me, ⌞saying⌟,²

1. Literally “was”
2. Literally “to say”

¹⁹ “And you, son of man,¹ mark out for yourself² two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must ⌞both⌟³ go out from the same land. And hew out a ⌞signpost⌟;⁴ hew it at the head of the road of the city.

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Hebrew “you”
3. Literally “the two of them”
4. Literally “hand”

²⁰ You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the ⌞Ammonites⌟¹ and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified.

1. Literally “sons of Ammon”

²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the fork of the road at the head of the two roads to practice divination. ⌞He shakes the arrows⌟,¹ he inquires with the teraphim, he ⌞examines⌟² the liver.

1. Literally “he casts the lot with the arrows” (cf. NASB, NRSV)
2. Literally “sees with”

²² In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter,¹ ⌞to raise the battle cry⌟,² to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.³

1. Or “open the mouth of Sheol”; or “give the command to slaughter” (cf. NRSV, NASB)
2. Literally “to raise a voice in shouting”
3. Hebrew “siege work”

²³ And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely¹ in their eyes; ⌞they have sworn oaths for themselves⌟.² But³ he will bring their guilt to remembrance so as to seize them.

1. Or “in vain”
2. Literally “swearers of oaths will be for them”
3. Or “And”

²⁴ “Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because you have brought to remembrance your guilt by the uncovering of your transgressions, so that your sins in all of your deeds appear—because of your being remembered, you will be captured in the hand.’

²⁵ And as for you, profane one, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come with the time of the punishment of the end,

²⁶ thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Remove the turban and lift off the crown; things are no longer the same. Exalt the low and bring low the high.

²⁷ A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it! Also¹ this has not ever happened;² it will remain until the coming of the one to whom the judgment belongs and I have given it to him.’

1. Or “indeed”
2. Or “will not happen until” (cf. NASB and NRSV)

²⁸ And you, son of man,¹ prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the ⌞Ammonites⌟² and concerning their disgrace,’ and you must say, ‘A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughtering; it is polished for holding, ⌞for flashing like lightning⌟,³

1. Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
2. Literally “sons of Ammon”
3. Literally “for the sake of lightening”

²⁹ when seeing a false vision for you in vain, when practicing divination for you falsely, to give¹ you on the neck of the profane ones of the wicked, ⌞whose day has come⌟,² ⌞the time of final punishment⌟.³

1. Or “place”
2. Literally “who has come their day”
3. Literally “in the time of the punishment of the end”

³⁰ Return it to its sheath in the place where you were created. In the land of your origin I will judge you!

³¹ And I will pour out my anger on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and I will give you into the hand of brutal men, skilled craftsmen of destruction.

³² You will be as fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the earth. You will not be remembered, for I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’ ”