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Ezekiel 21
EasyEnglish Bible
Ezekiel 21
EasyEnglish Bible
The Lord punishes Israel[a]
21 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, look towards Jerusalem. Speak about the things in my holy place that are wrong. Speak my message to warn the people of Israel. 3 Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people. 4 I will remove righteous people and wicked people from among you. So I will use my sword to attack everyone in the land, from the north to the south. 5 Then all the people will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who is punishing them with my sword. And I will not put it back in its place.”
6 So now, son of man, cry aloud. Let the people see how sad and upset you are. 7 They will ask you, “Why are you so sad?” Then you will say, “I am sad because of the news that will soon come. Every one of you will be very afraid. Your hands will be weak and your knees will shake.” You can be sure that this will happen very soon. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’
8 The Lord gave this message to me: 9 ‘Son of man, speak my message to the people. Say, “This is what the Lord says:
Look at my sword! It is sharp and it shines brightly.
10 It is sharp and it is ready to kill people.
It shines as bright as lightning!
Should we trust in the power of our king?
No! This sword does not respect any kingdom.
11 Now it is sharp and it shines.
It is ready for someone to take in their hand.
It is ready for the killer to use it.”
12 Cry aloud, son of man!
This sword is ready to attack my people.
It will attack all the leaders of Israel.
It will destroy my people and their leaders.
Because of that, show that you are very upset.
13 I am ready to test my people.
My sword does not respect the power of any king.
So my people will not escape punishment.
That is what the Almighty Lord says.
14 So speak my message to warn my people, son of man.
Then clap your hands together.
My sword must attack them many times.
It is ready to kill many people.
It will attack them from all directions.
15 So people will shake with fear. Many of them will fall down.
My sword is ready to kill them at every gate of the city.
It shines like lightning. It is ready to kill!
16 My sword, attack quickly on your right side!
Now turn and attack on your left side!
Attack in every direction that you turn!
17 Then I, too, will clap my hands together.
Finally, my anger will finish.
I, the Lord, have spoken.’
18 The Lord gave this message to me: 19 ‘Son of man, make a mark on two roads for the king of Babylon to follow with his army. Both these roads must start from the same country. Put a sign at the place where the two roads go in separate directions. 20 Show the two places that the roads go to. One road goes to Rabbah, the big city of the Ammonites. The other road goes to Judah and its strong city, Jerusalem. 21 The king of Babylon will arrive at the place where the road goes in separate directions. He will try to decide which way to go. He will use magic to ask his gods to tell him. He will shake arrows in his hands. He will pray to his idols. He will look at the livers of animals.[b] 22 The arrow in his right hand shows him that he should go to Jerusalem. He will command his army to go and kill the people there. His soldiers will use heavy pieces of wood to knock down the walls and gates of the city. They will shout as they attack the city. They will build heaps of earth against the city's walls. 23 The people in Jerusalem had promised to serve the king of Babylon. So they think that he will not attack them. But he will tell them about the wrong things that they have done. Because of that he will take them as his prisoners.[c]
24 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: You have shown everyone that you are guilty of many sins. Everything that you do shows your sins very clearly. Because you are guilty, your enemies will take you as their prisoners.
25 I say this to you, wicked king of Israel. The time for your final punishment has now arrived. 26 This is what the Almighty Lord says:
Take off the special cloth from the king's head.
Remove his crown!
Everything will change!
Give honour to humble people!
Make proud people ashamed!
27 I will cause your city to become a heap of stones.
I will destroy the kingdom.
This will happen when my chosen man comes.
I have chosen him to punish the city.
Then I will give him authority over the city, because it belongs to him.
28 You, son of man, must speak my message about the Ammonites. They have insulted Israel. This is what the Almighty Lord says:
A sword is ready to destroy them.
It shines brightly like lightning and it is ready to kill.
29 Their visions about the battle have deceived them.
What they think will happen is only lies.
The sword will punish wicked people with death.
The time for their final punishment has now arrived.
30 Now put the sword back in its place![d]
I will judge you in your own land,
in the place where you were born.
31 I will punish you very strongly,
because I am so angry with you.
I will put you under the power of cruel men
who know how to destroy people.
32 You will be like wood that helps a fire to burn.
You will die a violent death in your own land.
Nobody will remember you any more.
I, the Lord, have said this.’
Footnotes
- 21:1 This chapter explains the meaning of the story about the strong fire in Ezekiel 20:45-49. God will use the army from Babylon to punish his people. Soldiers will come and attack Jerusalem.
- 21:21 These were different kinds of magic that they used to find out what their false gods said. A liver is an inside part of an animal.
- 21:23 See Ezekiel 17:18.
- 21:30 Verses 30-32 are probably God's message to the army of Babylon. When they have finished punishing the people of Jerusalem and the Ammonites, they must go back to their own land. Then God will punish them there.
Ezekiel 21
New International Version
Ezekiel 21
New International Version
Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment
21 [a]The word of the Lord came to me:(A) 2 “Son of man, set your face against(B) Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuary.(C) Prophesy against(D) the land of Israel 3 and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you.(E) I will draw my sword(F) from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.(G) 4 Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword(H) will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.(I) 5 Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword(J) from its sheath; it will not return(K) again.’(L)
6 “Therefore groan, son of man! Groan before them with broken heart and bitter grief.(M) 7 And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?(N)’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear(O) and every hand go limp;(P) every spirit will become faint(Q) and every leg will be wet with urine.’(R) It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord.”
8 The word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“‘A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished—
10 sharpened for the slaughter,(S)
polished to flash like lightning!
“‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.(T)
11 “‘The sword is appointed to be polished,(U)
to be grasped with the hand;
it is sharpened and polished,
made ready for the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry out and wail, son of man,
for it is against my people;
it is against all the princes of Israel.
They are thrown to the sword
along with my people.
Therefore beat your breast.(V)
13 “‘Testing will surely come. And what if even the scepter, which the sword despises, does not continue? declares the Sovereign Lord.’
14 “So then, son of man, prophesy
and strike your hands(W) together.
Let the sword strike twice,
even three times.
It is a sword for slaughter—
a sword for great slaughter,
closing in on them from every side.(X)
15 So that hearts may melt with fear(Y)
and the fallen be many,
I have stationed the sword for slaughter[b]
at all their gates.
Look! It is forged to strike like lightning,
it is grasped for slaughter.(Z)
16 Slash to the right, you sword,
then to the left,
wherever your blade is turned.
17 I too will strike my hands(AA) together,
and my wrath(AB) will subside.
I the Lord have spoken.(AC)”
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 19 “Son of man, mark out two roads for the sword(AD) of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same country. Make a signpost(AE) where the road branches off to the city. 20 Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites(AF) and another against Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots(AG) with arrows, he will consult his idols,(AH) he will examine the liver.(AI) 22 Into his right hand will come the lot for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to give the command to slaughter, to sound the battle cry,(AJ) to set battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp(AK) and to erect siege works.(AL) 23 It will seem like a false omen to those who have sworn allegiance to him, but he will remind(AM) them of their guilt(AN) and take them captive.
24 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘Because you people have brought to mind your guilt by your open rebellion, revealing your sins in all that you do—because you have done this, you will be taken captive.
25 “‘You profane and wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come,(AO) whose time of punishment has reached its climax,(AP) 26 this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Take off the turban, remove the crown.(AQ) It will not be as it was: The lowly will be exalted and the exalted will be brought low.(AR) 27 A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! The crown will not be restored until he to whom it rightfully belongs shall come;(AS) to him I will give it.’(AT)
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about the Ammonites(AU) and their insults:
“‘A sword,(AV) a sword,
drawn for the slaughter,
polished to consume
and to flash like lightning!
29 Despite false visions concerning you
and lying divinations(AW) about you,
it will be laid on the necks
of the wicked who are to be slain,
whose day has come,
whose time of punishment has reached its climax.(AX)
30 “‘Let the sword return to its sheath.(AY)
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your ancestry,(AZ)
I will judge you.
31 I will pour out my wrath on you
and breathe(BA) out my fiery anger(BB) against you;
I will deliver you into the hands of brutal men,
men skilled in destruction.(BC)
32 You will be fuel for the fire,(BD)
your blood will be shed in your land,
you will be remembered(BE) no more;
for I the Lord have spoken.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-32 is numbered 21:6-37.
- Ezekiel 21:15 Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
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