1 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Prophetic Revealer} came to me, saying {lemor: speech marker}.
2 Son of man {ben adam: human one}, set your face toward Jerusalem and turn toward her sanctuaries {mikdasheha: holy places}, and prophesy against the land of Israel.
3 And you shall say to the land of Israel, "Thus says the LORD {YHWH, Divine Judge}: Behold, I am against you, and I will bring out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you both righteous {tsaddiq: just one} and wicked."
4 Because I {YHWH, Executor of Judgment} am about to cut off from you both the righteous {tsaddiq: morally just person} and the wicked, my sword will come out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.
5 And all flesh will know that I, the LORD {YHWH, Unsheathing Judge}, have drawn out My sword {kharbi: judgment weapon} from its sheath; it will not return again.
6 And you, Son of Man, sigh with the breaking{shivrôn: crushing collapse} of your loins, and with bitterness you shall sigh before their eyes{le-eineihem: in public}.
7 And when they say to you, “Why are you groaning?” you shall answer, “Because of the report, for it is drawing near: every heart {lev: inner being} will dissolve, all hands will hang limp; every spirit will sink, and all knees will flow down like water. Look, it is coming, and it will surely take place,” declares the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH, Sovereign Master}.
8 And the word {devar: spoken directive} of the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} came to me, saying.
9 Son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Sovereign Judge}, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished {merotah: shining finish}.’
10 In order to slaughter, to slaughter, it has been sharpened; in order for it to become a flash of lightning {barak: blinding gleam}, it has been polished. Or shall we rejoice? It is rejecting the rod of My {YHWH, Sword Commander} son like every tree.
11 It was given for polishing, to be grasped in the palm {kaf: open palm}; it has been sharpened, a sword, and it is polished, to put it into the hand of the slayer {horeg: killing agent}.
12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it has come upon My {YHWH, Just Judge} people; it is against all the princes of Israel; they are handed over to the sword with My people. Therefore strike your thigh {yerekh: sign of distress}.
13 For it is a testing {vochan: examination}; and what if you despise the rod? It shall be no more, declares the Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Sovereign Judge}.
14 And you, son of man {ben-adam: human prophet}, prophesy, and strike palm to palm; and let the sword be doubled, a third time {shelishitah: third round}—a sword of the slain. It is a sword of a slain one, the great one, the one that penetrates to them.
15 So that their heart {lev: inner resolve} may faint, and to multiply the stumbling blocks at all their gates, I {YHWH, Judgment Executor} have set the flashing blade, sharpened for slaughter and prepared.
16 Cut sharply {hit'achadi: cut sharply}, go right or go left; wherever your face is set, you are appointed {mu'adot: destined outcome}.
17 I too will strike{akpeh: judgment signal} My hands against My hands, and I will cause My fury to rest; I, the LORD {YHWH, Just Avenger}, have spoken.
18 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Speaker} came to me, saying {lemor: introducing direct speech}.
19 And you, Son of Man, set for yourself two ways {derakhim: diverging roads} for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; from one land both of them shall go out. And choose a signpost {yad: road marker}; choose it at the head of the way to a city.
20 Mark out a way {derekh: designated path}, so that the sword may come to Rabbah of the sons of Ammon and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified {mevutzarah: strong defense}.
21 For the king of Babylon stood at the fork of the road, at the head of the two ways, to practice divination; he shook the arrows {chitzim: arrow divination} and consulted the teraphim {teraphim: household gods} and examined the liver
22 And in his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in slaughter {retzach: violent killing}, to lift up the voice with a shout, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a mound, and to build a siege wall {dayeq: rampart}.
23 And it will be to them like a false divination in their eyes—those who have sworn oaths—for them; but He {YHWH, Righteous Judge} will bring to remembrance the iniquity {avon: moral guilt}, in order that they may be seized.
24 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD {Adonai YHWH: Supreme Judge}: Because you have made your iniquity {ʿavôn: moral guilt} to be remembered and your transgressions have been exposed in all your deeds—because you are remembered, you will be seized by the hand.
25 And you, profane and wicked {rasha: violent criminal} prince of Israel, whose day has arrived at the time of iniquity’s end {ketz: fixed limit}.
26 Thus says the Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Sovereign Judge}: Remove the turban {mitznefet: priestly headdress} and take off the crown. This shall not be as it once was. Exalt the lowly, and humble the exalted.
27 Overturning, overturning, overturning—I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} will make it so; this also will not exist until the one to whom the judgment belongs {mishpat: rightful judgment} comes, and I will give it to him.
28 And you, son of man, prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord GOD {YHWH Adonai, Avenging Sovereign} concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach {kherpah: public disgrace}: “A sword, a sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, sharpened for lightning.”
29 While they see vanity for you and practice deceitful divination for you, to place you on the necks of the slain {challey: those put to death} of the wicked whose day has come when iniquity {avon: deep wrongdoing} reaches its end.
30 Cause it to return to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin {mekhoratekha: birth territory}, I will judge {eshpot: render verdict upon} you.
31 I {YHWH, Divine Judge} will pour out my indignation upon you; with the fire of my wrath I will blow upon you, and I will give you into the hand of burning men skillful for destruction {mashkhit: bringing ruin}.
32 You shall be delivered to the fire for consumption {okhlah: total destruction}; your blood will be in the midst of the land; you will not be remembered, for I, the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge}, have spoken.