Part 18

26:020:044 And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

26:020:045 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

26:020:046 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;

26:020:047 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

26:020:048 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.

26:020:049 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?

26:021:001 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

26:021:002 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,

26:021:003 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

26:021:004 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:

26:021:005 That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

26:021:006 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.

26:021:007 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 hands 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.

26:021:008 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

26:021:009 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

26:021:010 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.

26:021:011 And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

26:021:012 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.

26:021:013 Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD.

26:021:014 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.

26:021:015 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.

26:021:016 Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set.

26:021:017 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.

26:021:018 The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,

26:021:019 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.

26:021:020 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced.

26:021:021 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.

26:021:022 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 battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort.