21 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ² Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel; ³ and say to the land of Israel, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. ⁴ Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north: ⁵ and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more. ⁶ Sigh therefore, thou son of man; with the breaking of thy loins and with bitterness shalt thou sigh before their eyes. ⁷ And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt say, Because of the tidings, for it cometh; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall ^[a]faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

⁸ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, ⁹ Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished; ¹⁰ it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? ^[b]the rod of my son, it contemneth every tree. ¹¹ And it is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yea, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer. ¹² Cry and wail, son of man; for it is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel: ^[c]they are delivered over to the sword with my people; smite therefore upon thy thigh. ¹³ For there is a trial; and ^[d]what if even the rod that contemneth shall be no more? saith the Lord Jehovah. ¹⁴ Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thy hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded, which ^[e]entereth into their chambers. ¹⁵ I have set the ^[f]threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter. ^16 [g]Gather thee together, go to the right, set thyself in array, go to the left, ^[h]whithersoever thy face is set. ¹⁷ I will also smite my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Jehovah, have spoken it.