English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
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God's Message came to me:
2 "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel
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"Son of man, now face Jerusalem and let the Message roll out against the Sanctuary. Prophesy against the land of Israel.
3 and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.
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Say, 'God's Message: I'm against you. I'm pulling my sword from its sheath and killing both the wicked and the righteous.
4 Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.
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Because I'm treating everyone the same, good and bad, everyone from south to north is going to feel my sword!
5 And all flesh shall know that I am the LORD. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again.
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Everyone will know that I mean business.'
6 "As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes.
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"So, son of man, groan! Double up in pain. Make a scene!
7 And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled,'" declares the Lord GOD.
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"When they ask you, 'Why all this groaning, this carrying on?' say, 'Because of the news that's coming. It'll knock the breath out of everyone. Hearts will stop cold, knees turn to rubber. Yes, it's coming. No stopping it. Decree of God, the Master.'"
8 And the word of the LORD came to me:
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God's Message to me:
9 "Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: "A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished,
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"Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, 'The Master says: "'A sword! A sword! razor-sharp and polished,
10 sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning!(Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.)
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Sharpened to kill, polished to flash like lightning! "'My child, you've despised the scepter of Judah by worshiping every tree-idol.
11 So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer.
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"'The sword is made to glisten, to be held and brandished. It's sharpened and polished, ready to be brandished by the killer.'
12 Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh.
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"Yell out and wail, son of man. The sword is against my people! The princes of Israel and my people - abandoned to the sword! Wring your hands! Tear out your hair!
13 For it will not be a testing--what could it do if you despise the rod?" declares the Lord GOD.
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"'Testing comes. Why have you despised discipline? You can't get around it. Decree of God, the Master.'
14 "As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them,
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"So, prophesy, son of man! Clap your hands. Get their attention. Tell them that the sword's coming down once, twice, three times. It's a sword to kill, a sword for a massacre, A sword relentless, a sword inescapable -
15 that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter.
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People collapsing right and left, going down like dominoes. I've stationed a murderous sword at every gate in the city, Flashing like lightning, brandished murderously.
16 Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed.
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Cut to the right, thrust to the left, murderous, sharp-edged sword!
17 I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the LORD have spoken."
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Then I'll clap my hands, a signal that my anger is spent. I, God, have spoken."
18 The word of the LORD came to me again:
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God's Message came to me:
19 "As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city.
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"Son of man, lay out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take. Start them from the same place. Place a signpost at the beginning of each road.
20 Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified.
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Post one sign to mark the road of the sword to Rabbah of the Ammonites. Post the other to mark the road to Judah and Fort Jerusalem.
21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver.
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The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and he decides by divination which of the two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws god-dice, he examines a goat liver.
22 Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
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He opens his right hand: The omen says, 'Head for Jerusalem!' So he's on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works.
23 But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken.
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"To the Judah leaders, who themselves have sworn oaths, it will seem like a false divination, but he will remind them of their guilt, and so they'll be captured.
24 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear--because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.
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"So this is what God, the Master, says: 'Because your sin is now out in the open so everyone can see what you've been doing, you'll be taken captive.
25 And you, O profanewicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment,
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"'O Zedekiah, blasphemous and evil prince of Israel: Time's up. It's "punishment payday."
26 thus says the Lord GOD: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted.
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God says, Take your royal crown off your head. No more "business as usual." The underdog will be promoted and the top dog will be demoted.
27 A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him.
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Ruins, ruins, ruins! I'll turn the whole place into ruins. And ruins it will remain until the one comes who has a right to it. Then I'll give it to him.'
28 "And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GODconcerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning--
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"But, son of man, your job is to prophesy. Tell them, 'This is the Message from God, the Master, against the Ammonites and against their cruel taunts: "'A sword! A sword! Bared to kill, Sharp as a razor, flashing like lightning.
29 while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you--to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
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Despite false sword propaganda circulated in Ammon, The sword will sever Ammonite necks, for whom it's punishment payday.
30 Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.
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Return the sword to the sheath! I'll judge you in your home country, in the land where you grew up.
31 And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy.
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I'll empty out my wrath on you, breathe hot anger down your neck. I'll give you to vicious men skilled in torture.
32 You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the LORD have spoken."
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You'll end up as stove-wood. Corpses will litter your land. Not so much as a memory will be left of you. I, God, have said so.'"
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.