Ezekiel 21-24

New American Standard Bible

Parable of the Sword of the Lord

21 ^[a]And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^(A)set your face against Jerusalem, and ^[b](B)speak prophetically against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel; ³ and say to the land of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, ^(C)I am against you; and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you the ^(D)righteous and the wicked. ⁴ Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go out from its sheath against ^[c](E)humanity from south to north. ⁵ So ^[d]humanity will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword from its sheath. It will ^(F)not return to its sheath again.”’ ⁶ As for you, son of man, groan with ^[e]a breaking heart and bitter grief; you shall groan in their sight. ⁷ And when they say to you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the ^(G)news, for it is coming; and ^(H)every heart will melt, all hands will go limp, every spirit will be disheartened, and all ^[f]knees will drip with water. Behold, it is coming and it will happen,’ declares the Lord ^[g]God.”

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord says:’ Say,

Or shall we rejoice, the ^[i]rod of My son ^(K)despising every tree? ¹¹ And it is given to be polished, so that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to hand it over to the slaughterer. ^12 (L)Cry out and wail, son of man; for it is against My people, it is against all the ^(M)officials of Israel. They are turned over to the sword with My people, therefore ^[j]slap your thigh. ¹³ For there is a testing; and what if even the ^[k]rod which despises will cease to be?” declares the Lord God.

¹⁴ “You therefore, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands; and let the sword be ^(N)doubled the third time, the sword for the slain. It is the sword for the great one slain, which surrounds them, ¹⁵ so that their ^(O)hearts will waver, and many ^(P)fall at all their ^(Q)gates. I have granted the slaughter of the sword. Oh! It is made for striking like lightning, it is sharpened in readiness for slaughter. ¹⁶ Prove yourself sharp, go to the right; set yourself; go to the left, wherever your ^[l]edge is ordered. ¹⁷ I will also clap My hands, and I will ^(R)satisfy My wrath; I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The Instrument of God’s Judgment

¹⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁹ “Now as for you, son of man, ^[m](S)make two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; both of them will go out of one land. And ^[n]make a signpost; ^[o]make it at the head of the way to the city. ²⁰ You shall ^[p]mark a way for the sword to come to ^(T)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and to Judah into ^(U)fortified Jerusalem. ²¹ For the king of Babylon stands at the ^[q]parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use ^(V)divination; he ^(W)shakes the arrows, he consults the ^[r](X)household idols, he looks at the liver. ²² Into his right hand came the divination, ‘Jerusalem,’ to ^(Y)set up battering rams, to open the mouth ^[s]for ^[t]slaughter, to raise the voice with a battle cry, to set up battering rams against the gates, to pile up assault ramps, to build a siege wall. ²³ And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes; ^(Z)they have sworn solemn oaths. But he ^(AA)makes guilt known, so that they may be seized.

²⁴ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have made your guilt known, in that your offenses are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins are seen—because you have come to mind, you will be seized by the hand. ²⁵ And you, slain, wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose ^(AB)day has come, in the time of the ^[u]punishment of the end,’ ²⁶ this is what the Lord God says: ‘Remove the ^[v]turban and take off the ^(AC)crown; this will ^[w]no longer be the same. ^(AD)Exalt that which is low, and humble that which is high. ^27 (AE)Ruins, ruins, ruins, I will make it! This also will be no longer until ^(AF)He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.’

²⁸ “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the Lord God says concerning the sons of Ammon and their ^(AG)taunting,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, sharpened for the slaughter, to make it ^[x](AH)consume, so that it may be like lightning— ²⁹ while they see ^(AI)false visions for you, while they divine lies for you—to place you on the necks of the wicked who are killed, whose day has come, in the ^(AJ)time of the ^[y]punishment of the end. ^30 (AK)Return it to its sheath. In the ^(AL)place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹ I will ^(AM)pour out My indignation on you; I will ^(AN)blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and I will hand you over to brutal men, ^(AO)craftsmen of destruction. ³² You will be ^[z](AP)fuel for the fire; your blood will be in the midst of the land. You will ^(AQ)not be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

The Sins of Israel

22 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Then inform her of all her abominations. ³ And you shall say, ‘This is what the Lord ^[aa]God says: “A city ^(AR)shedding blood in her midst, so that her time is coming; and a city that makes idols, contrary to her own good, for defilement! ⁴ You have become ^(AS)guilty by ^[ab]the blood which you have shed, and you have become defiled by your idols which you have made. So you have brought your days closer and have come to your years; therefore I have made you a ^(AT)disgrace to the nations, and an object of mocking to all the lands. ⁵ Those who are near and those who are far from you will make fun of you, you of ill repute, full of ^(AU)turmoil.

⁶ “Behold, the ^(AV)rulers of Israel, each according to his ^[ac]power, have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood. ⁷ They have ^(AW)treated father and mother with contempt among you. They have oppressed the ^(AX)stranger in your midst; they have oppressed the ^(AY)orphan and the widow among you. ⁸ You have ^(AZ)despised My holy things and ^(BA)profaned My Sabbaths. ⁹ Slanderous men have been among you for the purpose of shedding blood, and among you they have eaten at the mountain shrines. In your midst they have ^(BB)committed outrageous sin. ¹⁰ Among you ^[ad]they have ^(BC)uncovered their fathers’ nakedness; among you they have abused her who was ^(BD)unclean in her menstruation. ¹¹ And one has committed abomination with his ^(BE)neighbor’s wife, another has outrageously defiled his ^(BF)daughter-in-law, and another among you has sexually ^(BG)abused his sister, his father’s daughter. ¹² Among you they have ^(BH)taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken ^[ae](BI)interest, you have injured your neighbors by ^(BJ)oppression, and you have ^(BK)forgotten Me,” declares the Lord God.

¹³ “Behold, then, I strike with My hand your ^(BL)profit which you have made and ^[af]the bloodshed which is among you. ¹⁴ Can ^(BM)your heart endure, or can your hands be strong for the days that I will deal with you? ^(BN)I, the Lord, have spoken and will act. ¹⁵ And I will ^(BO)scatter you among the nations and disperse you among the lands, and I will ^(BP)eliminate your uncleanness from you. ¹⁶ Then you will defile yourself in the sight of the nations, and you will ^(BQ)know that I am the Lord.”’”

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^[ag](BR)waste metal to Me; all of them are ^(BS)bronze, tin, iron, and lead in the ^(BT)smelting furnace; they are the ^[ah]waste metal of silver. ¹⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because all of you have become ^[ai]waste metal, therefore, behold, I am going to gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ²⁰ As they gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the ^(BU)smelting furnace to blow fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you in My anger and in My wrath, and I will place you there and melt you. ²¹ And I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted in the midst of it. ²² As silver is melted in the furnace, so you will be melted in the midst of it; and you will know that I, the Lord, have ^(BV)poured out My wrath on you.’”

²³ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, say to her, ‘You are a land that is ^(BW)not clean or rained on in the day of indignation.’ ²⁵ There is a ^(BX)conspiracy of her prophets in her midst like a roaring lion tearing the prey. They have ^(BY)devoured lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many ^(BZ)widows in the midst of her. ²⁶ Her ^(CA)priests have done violence to My Law and have ^(CB)profaned My holy things; they have made no ^(CC)distinction between the holy and the ^[aj]common, and they have not taught the difference between the ^(CD)unclean and the clean; and they have closed their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am defiled among them. ²⁷ Her leaders within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and ^(CE)destroying lives in order to make ^(CF)dishonest profit. ²⁸ And her prophets have coated with whitewash for them, seeing ^(CG)false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. ²⁹ The people of the land have practiced ^(CH)extortion and committed robbery, and they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have ^(CI)oppressed the stranger without justice. ³⁰ I ^(CJ)searched for a man among them who would ^(CK)build up a wall and ^(CL)stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found ^[ak]no one. ³¹ So I have poured out My ^(CM)indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; I have brought ^(CN)their way upon their heads,” declares the Lord God.

Oholah and Oholibah’s Sin and Its Consequences

23 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ² “Son of man, there were ^(CO)two women, the daughters of one mother; ³ and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. They ^(CP)prostituted themselves in their youth; there their breasts were squeezed and there their virgin breasts were handled. ⁴ Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they gave birth to sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

⁵ “Oholah prostituted herself ^[al]while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the ^(CQ)Assyrians, her neighbors, ⁶ who were clothed in purple, ^(CR)governors and officials, all of them handsome young men, horsemen riding on horses. ⁷ She bestowed her ^[am]obscene practices on them, all of whom were the choicest ^[an]men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she ^(CS)defiled herself. ⁸ She did not abandon her obscene practices ^(CT)from the time in Egypt; for in her youth ^[ao]men had slept with her, and they handled her virgin breasts and poured out their obscene practice on her. ⁹ Therefore, I handed her over to her ^(CU)lovers, to the ^[ap]Assyrians, after whom she lusted. ¹⁰ They ^(CV)uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. So she became a ^[aq]subject of gossip among women, and they executed judgments on her.

¹¹ “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was ^(CW)more corrupt in her lust than she, and her obscene practices were ^[ar]more than the prostitution of her sister. ¹² She lusted after the ^[as](CX)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, opulently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them handsome young men. ¹³ And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took ^[at]the same way. ¹⁴ So she increased her obscene practices. And she saw men ^(CY)carved on the wall, images of the ^(CZ)Chaldeans drawn in bright red, ¹⁵ wearing belts around their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, ^[au]like the ^[av]Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. ¹⁶ And ^[aw]when she saw them she ^(DA)lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. ¹⁷ And the ^[ax](DB)Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their obscene practice. And when she had been defiled by them, ^[ay]she turned away from them in disgust. ¹⁸ She ^(DC)exposed her obscene practices and exposed her nakedness; then ^[az]I turned away from her in ^(DD)disgust, just as ^[ba]I had turned away from her ^(DE)sister in disgust. ¹⁹ Yet she multiplied her obscene practices, remembering the days of her youth, when she prostituted herself in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ She ^(DF)lusted after their lovers, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose discharge is like the discharge of horses. ²¹ So you longed for the ^(DG)outrageous sin of your youth, when ^[bb]the Egyptians handled your breasts because of the breasts of your youth.

²² “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Lord ^[bc]God says: ‘Behold I am going to incite your lovers against you, from whom ^[bd]you turned away in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: ²³ the ^[be](DH)Babylonians and all the ^(DI)Chaldeans, ^(DJ)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the ^[bf](DK)Assyrians with them; handsome young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and ^[bg]men of renown, all of them riding on horses. ²⁴ And they will come against you with weapons, ^(DL)chariots, and ^[bh]wagons, and with a contingent of peoples. They will attack you on every side with shield, ^[bi]buckler, and helmet; and I will commit the ^(DM)judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. ²⁵ I will set My ^(DN)jealousy against you, so that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your ^[bj]survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your ^(DO)sons and your daughters; and your ^[bk]survivors will be consumed by the fire. ²⁶ They will also ^(DP)strip you of your clothes and take away your ^(DQ)beautiful jewelry. ²⁷ So ^(DR)I will remove from you your outrageous sin and your prostitution that you brought from the land of Egypt, so that you will not raise your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ ²⁸ For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to hand you over to those whom you ^(DS)hate, to those from whom ^[bl]you turned away in disgust. ²⁹ They will ^(DT)deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your prostitution will be exposed, both your outrageous sin and your obscene practices. ³⁰ These things will be done to you because you have ^(DU)adulterously pursued the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. ³¹ You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put ^(DV)her cup in your hand.’ ³² This is what the Lord God says:

for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God. ³⁵ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have ^(EA)forgotten Me and ^(EB)discarded Me behind your back, suffer on your own part the punishment for your outrageous sin and your obscene practices.’”

³⁶ Moreover, the Lord said to me, “Son of man, will you ^(EC)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then ^(ED)declare to them their abominations. ³⁷ For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. So they have committed adultery with their idols, and even made their sons, ^(EE)whom they bore to Me, pass through the fire to ^[bn]them as food. ³⁸ Again, they have done this to Me: they have ^(EF)defiled My sanctuary on the same day, and have ^(EG)profaned My Sabbaths. ³⁹ For when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My ^(EH)sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, this is what they did within My house.

⁴⁰ “Furthermore, ^[bo]they have even sent for men who come from a great distance, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, ^(EI)put makeup on your eyes, and ^(EJ)adorned yourselves with jewelry; ⁴¹ and you sat on a splendid ^(EK)couch with a ^(EL)table arranged in front of it on which you had set My ^(EM)incense and My ^(EN)oil. ⁴² And the sound of a ^[bp](EO)carefree multitude was with her; and ^(EP)heavy drinkers were brought from the wilderness with people from the multitude of humanity. And they put ^(EQ)bracelets on ^[bq]the wrists of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

⁴³ “Then I said concerning her who was ^(ER)worn out by adulteries, ‘^[br]Will they now commit adultery with her when she is like this?’ ^44 [bs]But they went in to her as they would go in to a prostitute. This is how they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. ⁴⁵ But they, righteous people, will ^(ES)judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

⁴⁶ “For this is what the Lord God says: ‘Bring up a contingent against them and turn them over to ^(ET)terror and plunder. ⁴⁷ The contingent will ^(EU)stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and ^(EV)burn their houses with fire. ⁴⁸ So I will eliminate outrageous conduct from the land, so that all women will take warning and not commit ^[bt]outrageous sin as you have done. ⁴⁹ Your outrageous conduct ^[bu]will be ^(EW)repaid to you, and you will bear the guilt for your idols; so you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Parable of the Boiling Pot

24 Now the word of the Lord came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, saying, ² “Son of man, write the name of the day, this very day. The king of Babylon ^[bv]has ^(EX)laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³ Present a ^(EY)parable to the ^(EZ)rebellious house and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord ^[bw]God says:

⁶ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

⁹ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says:

¹⁴ I, the Lord, have spoken; it is ^(FM)coming and I will act. I will not overlook, I will not ^(FN)pity, and I will not be sorry; ^(FO)according to your ways and according to your deeds ^[ce]I will judge you,” declares the Lord God.’”

Death of Ezekiel’s Wife Is a Sign

¹⁵ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁶ “Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you ^(FP)what is precious to your eyes with a ^(FQ)fatal blow; but you shall not ^(FR)mourn and you shall not weep, and your ^(FS)tears shall not come. ¹⁷ Groan silently; do ^(FT)no mourning for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not ^[cf]cover your mustache, and ^(FU)do not eat the ^[cg]bread of other people.” ¹⁸ So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. And in the morning I did as I was commanded. ¹⁹ And the people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are doing?” ²⁰ Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²¹ ‘Speak to the house of Israel, “This is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, ^(FV)that which is precious in your eyes and the longing of your soul; and your ^(FW)sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. ²² And you will do just as I have done; you will not ^[ch]cover your mustache, and you will not eat the ^[ci]bread of other people. ²³ Your turbans will be on your heads, and your sandals on your feet. You ^(FX)will not mourn and you will not weep; but ^(FY)you will rot away in your guilty deeds, and you will groan ^[cj]to one another. ²⁴ So Ezekiel will be a ^(FZ)sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When it comes, then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

²⁵ ‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their ^(GA)stronghold, the joy of their splendor, that which is precious in their eyes and their ^[ck]heart’s longing, their sons and their daughters, ²⁶ that on that day the one who ^(GB)escapes will come to you with information for your ears? ²⁷ On that day your ^(GC)mouth will be opened to him who escaped, and you will speak and no longer be silenced. So you will be a sign to them, and they will know that I am the Lord.’”