Beginning

Babylon, the Lord’s Sword

21 Then the Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, look toward Jerusalem and speak against their holy place. Prophesy against the land of Israel. ³ Say to Israel: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am against you. I will pull my sword out of its holder. I will separate you from both wicked people and those who do right. ⁴ I am going to separate the wicked and those who do right. So my sword will come out from its holder. And it will come against all people from south to north. ⁵ Then all people will know that I, the Lord, have pulled my sword out from its holder. My sword will not go back in again.’

⁶ “So, human being, groan with breaking heart and great sadness. Make these sad sounds in front of the people. ⁷ They will ask you, ‘Why do you make these sad sounds?’ Then you will say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt with fear. All hands will become weak. Everyone will be afraid. All knees will become weak as water. Look, it is coming. It will happen, says the Lord God.’”

⁸ The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ⁹ “Human being, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘You are not happy about this horrible punishment by the sword. But my son, Judah, you did not change when you were only beaten with a rod.

¹³ “‘The test will come. And Judah, who is hated by the armies of Babylon, will not last, says the Lord God.’

Jerusalem to Be Destroyed

¹⁸ The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ¹⁹ “Human being, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can follow. Both of these roads will start from the same country. And make signs where the road divides and one way goes toward the city. ²⁰ One sign shows the road he can take with his sword to Rabbah. It is in the land of the Ammonites. And the other sign shows the road he can take to Judah and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is protected with strong walls. ²¹ The king of Babylon will come to where the road divides into two. He will use magic. He will throw lots with arrows. He will ask questions of his family idols. He will look at the liver of a sacrificed animal to learn where he should go. ²² The lots will tell him to go toward his right to Jerusalem. They will tell him these things: Use logs to break down the city gates. Shout the battle cry and give the order to kill. Build a dirt road to the top of the walls and devices to attack the walls. ²³ The people of Jerusalem have made agreements with other nations to help them fight Babylon. So they will think this prediction is wrong. But the king of Babylon will remind them of their sin. And he will capture them.

²⁴ “So this is what the Lord God says: ‘You have shown how sinful you are by turning against the Lord. Your sins are seen in all the things you do. So you will be taken captive by the enemy.

²⁵ “‘You unclean and evil leader of Israel, you will be killed! The time of your final punishment has come. ²⁶ This is what the Lord God says: Take off the turban. Take off the crown. Things will change. Those who are important now will be made unimportant. And those who are unimportant now will be made important. ²⁷ A ruin! A ruin! I will make it a ruin! This place will not be rebuilt until the one comes who has a right to be king. Then I will give it to him.’

The Punishment of Ammon

²⁸ “And you, human being, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says about the people of Ammon and their insults:

The Sins of Jerusalem

22 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “And you, human being, will you judge? Will you judge the city of murderers? Then tell her about all her hated acts. ³ You will say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: You are a city that kills those who come to live there. You make yourself unclean by making idols. ⁴ You have become guilty of murder. And you have become unclean by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your time of punishment near. You have come to the end of your years. So I have made you a thing of shame to the nations. All lands will laugh at you. ⁵ Those near and those far away will laugh at you. You will have a bad name. You will be full of confusion.

⁶ “‘Jerusalem, see how each ruler of Israel in you has been trying to kill people. ⁷ The people in you hate their fathers and mothers. They mistreat the foreigners in you. They wrong the orphans and widows in you. ⁸ You hate my holy things. You dishonor my Sabbaths. ⁹ The men in you tell lies to cause the death of others. The people in you eat food offered to idols at the mountain places of worship. They do sexual sins in you. ¹⁰ The people in you sin sexually with their fathers’ wives. The men in you have physical relations with women who are unclean, during their time of monthly bleeding. ¹¹ One person in you does a hated act with his neighbor’s wife. Another has shamefully violated his daughter-in-law. And another rapes his half sister. ¹² The people in you take money to kill people. You take unfair interest and profits. You make profits by mistreating your neighbor. And you have forgotten me, says the Lord God.

¹³ “‘So with my fists I will hit you who have stolen money and you who have murdered people. ¹⁴ Will you still be brave and strong when I punish you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act. ¹⁵ I will scatter you among the nations. I will spread you through the countries. I will get rid of your uncleanness. ¹⁶ But you, yourself, will be dishonored in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Israel Is Worthless

¹⁷ The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ¹⁸ “Human being, the people of Israel have become useless like scum to me. They are like the copper, tin, iron and lead left in the furnace. These are left when silver is purified by melting. ¹⁹ So this is what the Lord God says: ‘You have become useless like scum. I am going to gather you into Jerusalem. ²⁰ People gather silver, copper, iron, lead and tin into a furnace. Then they melt it in a blazing fire. In the same way I will gather you in my hot anger. I will put you in Jerusalem and melt you. ²¹ I will gather you. And I will make you feel the heat of my anger. You will be melted in the fire. ²² Silver is melted in the furnace. In the same way you will be melted in the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out my anger against you.’”

Sins of the People

²³ The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ²⁴ “Human being, say to the land, ‘You are a land that has not had rain or showers in a day of anger.’ ²⁵ Israel’s rulers make evil plans. They are like a roaring lion that tears the animal it has caught. They have destroyed lives. They have taken treasure and valuable things. They have caused many women to become widows. ²⁶ Israel’s priests do cruel things to my teachings. They do not honor my holy things. They make no difference between holy and unholy things. They teach there is no difference between clean and unclean things. They do not remember my Sabbaths. So I am dishonored by them. ²⁷ Jerusalem’s leaders are like wolves tearing a dead animal. They have killed people for profit. ²⁸ And the prophets try to cover this up by false visions and by lying. They say, ‘This is what the Lord God says’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people cheat others. They steal. They hurt people who are poor and needy. They cheat foreigners and don’t treat them fairly.

³⁰ “I looked for someone to build up the walls. I looked for someone to stand before me where the walls are broken to defend these people. Then I would not have to destroy them. But I did not find anyone. ³¹ So I will let them see my anger. I will destroy them with an anger that is like fire. This is because of all the things they have done, says the Lord God.”