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18 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 19 “And you, son of man,[c] mark out for yourself[d] two roads for the coming of the sword of the king of Babylon; they must both[e] go out from the same land. And hew out a signpost;[f] hew it at the head of the road of the city. 20 You must mark a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites[g] and to Judah, in Jerusalem the fortified. 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,[h] he inquires with the teraphim, he examines[i] the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem, to put up battering rams, to open a mouth for slaughter,[j] to raise the battle cry,[k] to put up battering rams against gates, to build a siege ramp, to build siege works.[l] 23 And it will be to them like practicing divination falsely[m] in their eyes; they have sworn oaths for themselves.[n] But[o] he will bring their guilt to remembrance so as to seize them.

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.’

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 21:18 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 21:18 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 21:19 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 21:19 Hebrew “you”
  5. Ezekiel 21:19 Literally “the two of them”
  6. Ezekiel 21:19 Literally “hand”
  7. Ezekiel 21:20 Literally “sons of Ammon”
  8. Ezekiel 21:21 Literally “he casts the lot with the arrows” (cf. NASB, NRSV)
  9. Ezekiel 21:21 Literally “sees with”
  10. Ezekiel 21:22 Or “open the mouth of Sheol”; or “give the command to slaughter” (cf. NRSV, NASB)
  11. Ezekiel 21:22 Literally “to raise a voice in shouting”
  12. Ezekiel 21:22 Hebrew “siege work”
  13. Ezekiel 21:23 Or “in vain”
  14. Ezekiel 21:23 Literally “swearers of oaths will be for them”
  15. Ezekiel 21:23 Or “And”

Omens for Babylon’s King

18 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 19 “Son of man, make a map and trace two routes on it for the sword of Babylon’s king to follow. Put a signpost on the road that comes out of Babylon where the road forks into two— 20 one road going to Ammon and its capital, Rabbah, and the other to Judah and fortified Jerusalem. 21 The king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices. 22 The omen in his right hand says, ‘Jerusalem!’ With battering rams his soldiers will go against the gates, shouting for the kill. They will put up siege towers and build ramps against the walls. 23 The people of Jerusalem will think it is a false omen, because of their treaty with the Babylonians. But the king of Babylon will remind the people of their rebellion. Then he will attack and capture them.

24 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Again and again you remind me of your sin and your guilt. You don’t even try to hide it! In everything you do, your sins are obvious for all to see. So now the time of your punishment has come!

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