The Instrument of God’s Judgment

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Now as for you, son of man, ^[a](A)make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And ^[b]make a signpost; ^[c]make it at the head of the way to the city. ²⁰ You shall ^[d]mark a way for the sword to come to ^(B)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into ^(C)fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the ^[e]parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ^(D)divination; he ^(E)shakes the arrows, he consults the ^[f](F)household idols, he looks at the liver. ²² Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to ^(G)set up battering rams, to open the mouth ^[g]for ^[h]slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to pile up assault ramps, to build a siege wall. ²³ And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; ^(H)they have sworn solemn oaths. But he ^(I)makes guilt known, so that they may be seized.

²⁴ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have made your guilt known, in that your offenses are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins are seen—because you have come to mind, you will be seized by the hand. ²⁵ And you, slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ^(J)day has come, in the time of the ^[i]punishment of the end,’ ²⁶ this is what the Lord God says: ‘Remove the ^[j]turban and take off the ^(K)crown; this will ^[k]no longer be the same. ^(L)Exalt that which is low, and humble that which is high. ^27 (M)Ruins, ruins, ruins, I will make it! This also will be no longer until ^(N)He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.’