|
Scriptural Text [& Editorial]
|
Commentary & Explanation
|
Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
|
CHAPTER 21
Both the righteous and the wicked in Jerusalem shall be
slain—Babylon draws a sharp and bright sword against Israel and shall
prevail.
|
|
|
1 AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy aface toward
Jerusalem, and bdrop thy word toward the holy
places, and prophesy against the cland of Israel,
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD;
Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my
asword out of his 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 his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
5 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn
forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not areturn any
more.
|
|
|
6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7 And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore
sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh:
and every heart shall melt, and all ahands shall be feeble,
and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water:
behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD.
|
|
|
8 ¶ Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD;
Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also afurbished:
10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.
|
|
|
11 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may
be ahandled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished,
to give it into the hand of the slayer.
12 Cry and howl, son of man: for it shall be upon my people, it shall be upon all the princes of Israel: terrors by reason of the sword shall be upon my people: smite therefore upon thy thigh.
13 Because it is a atrial,
and what if the sword bcontemn even the rod? it
shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.
|
|
|
14 Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.
|
|
|
16 Go thee one way or
othera, either on the right
hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.
17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will
cause my afury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
|
16a Go thee one way or the other
No matter which way turned Jerusalem would not escape the destruction of
Babylon. Whether to the left or to the right, the time had come and all ways
out had ended. The warnings and words of the prophets would finally be
fulfilled and Jerusalem would be destoryed. As such destruction had passed
them by so often the Jews had become somewhat complacent and no longer heard
such voices of the prophets as Lehi, Jeremiah and even Ezekiel from Babylon
until it would be finally ended in the inevitable destruction of Jerusalem.
|
|
18 ¶ The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
19 Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city.
20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to
aRabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the
defenced.
|
|
|
21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver.
22 At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to
appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice
with shouting, to appoint abattering rams against
the gates, to cast ba mount, and to build
ca fort.
23 And it shall be unto them as a false divination in
their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance
the iniquity, that they may be ataken.
|
|
|
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have
made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your
atransgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings
your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance,
ye shall be btaken with the hand.
|
|
|
25 ¶ And thou, profane awicked
prince of Israel, whose bday is come, when iniquity shall have an end,
26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the
adiadem, and take off the crown: this shall not
be the same: exalt him that is blow, and
abase him that is high.
27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it
shall be no more, until he acome
bwhose cright it is; and I will give it
him.
|
|
|
28 ¶ And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus
saith the Lord GOD concerning the aAmmonites, and
concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is
drawn: for the slaughter it is bfurbished, to
consume because of the glittering:
29 aWhiles they see vanity unto
thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of
them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their
iniquity shall have an end.
|
|
|
30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
31 And I will pour out mine
aindignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the
bfire of my cwrath, and deliver thee into
the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy.
32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|