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God’s Razor of Judgment
“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.
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When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.
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A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.
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I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.”
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and say: ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.
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“‘But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations.
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“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out “Alas!” because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague.
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One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them.
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Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague.
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You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord.
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You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
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I will scatter to the winds all those around him—his staff and all his troops—and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
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But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
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“Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals,
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“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—sword and famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals!
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They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.
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All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.
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Babylon as God’s Sword of Judgment
The word of the Lord came to me:
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and say to her: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will draw my sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.
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Because I am going to cut off the righteous and the wicked, my sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.
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Then all people will know that I the Lord have drawn my sword from its sheath; it will not return again.’
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“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—
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sharpened for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! “‘Shall we rejoice in the scepter of my royal son? The sword despises every such stick.
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“‘The sword is appointed to be polished, to be grasped with the hand; it is sharpened and polished, made ready for the hand of the slayer.
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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.
