Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 The Lord spoke to me.
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The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2 "Mortal man," he said, "denounce Jerusalem. Denounce the places where people worship. Warn the land of Israel
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Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and drop [your word] toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel;
3 that I, the Lord, am saying: I am your enemy. I will draw my sword and kill all of you, good and evil alike.
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and tell the land of Israel, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4 I will use my sword against everyone from south to north.
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Seeing then that I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
5 Everyone will know that I, the Lord, have drawn my sword and that I will not put it away.
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and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more.
6 "Mortal man, groan as if your heart is breaking with despair. Groan in sorrow where everyone can watch you.
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Sigh therefore, you son of man; with the breaking of your loins and with bitterness shall you sigh before their eyes.
7 When they ask you why you are groaning, tell them it is because of the news that is coming. When it comes, their hearts will be filled with fear, their hands will hang limp, their courage will fail, and their knees will tremble. The time has come; it is here." The Sovereign Lord has spoken.
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It shall be, when they tell you, Why do you sigh? that you shall say, Because of the news, for it comes; 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 comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh.
8 The Lord said to me,
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The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
9 "Mortal man, prophesy. Tell the people what I, the Lord, am saying: A sword, a sword is sharpened and polished.
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Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says Yahweh: Say, A sword, a sword, it is sharpened, and also furbished;
10 It is sharpened to kill, polished to flash like lightning. There can be no rejoicing, for my people have disregarded every warning and punishment.
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it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? the rod of my son, it condemns every tree.
11 The sword is being polished, to make it ready for use. It is sharpened and polished, to be put in the hands of a killer.
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It is given to be furbished, that it may be handled: the sword, it is sharpened, yes, it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the killer.
12 Howl in grief, mortal man; this sword is meant for my people and for all the leaders of Israel. They are going to be killed with all the rest of my people. Beat your breast in despair!
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Cry and wail, son of man; for it is on my people, it is on all the princes of Israel: they are delivered over to the sword with my people; strike therefore on your thigh.
13 I am testing my people, and if they refuse to repent, all these things will happen to them.
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For there is a trial; and what if even the rod that condemns shall be no more? says the Lord Yahweh.
14 "Now, mortal man, prophesy. Clap your hands, and the sword will strike again and again. It is a sword that kills, a sword that terrifies and slaughters.
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You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike your hands together; and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the deadly wounded: it is the sword of the great one who is deadly wounded, which enters into their chambers.
15 It makes my people lose courage and stumble. I am threatening their city with a sword that flashes like lightning and is ready to kill.
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I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied: ah! it is made as lightning, it is pointed for slaughter.
16 Cut to the right and the left, you sharp sword! Cut wherever you turn.
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Gather you together, go to the right, set yourself in array, go to the left, wherever your face is set.
17 I also will clap my hands, and my anger will be over. I, the Lord, have spoken."
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I will also strike my hands together, and I will cause my wrath to rest: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
18 The Lord spoke to me.
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The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
19 "Mortal man," he said, "mark out two roads by which the king of Babylonia can come with his sword. Both of them are to start in the same country. Put up a signpost where the roads fork.
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Also, you son of man, appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come; they both shall come forth out of one land: and mark out a place, mark it out at the head of the way to the city.
20 One will show the king the way to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and the other the way to Judah, to the fortified city, Jerusalem.
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You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
21 The king of Babylonia stands by the signpost at the fork of the road. To discover which way to go, he shakes the arrows; he consults his idols; he examines the liver of a sacrificed animal.
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For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he shook the arrows back and forth, he consulted the teraphim, he looked in the liver.
22 Now! His right hand holds the arrow marked "Jerusalem'! It tells him to go and set up battering rams, to shout the battle cry, to place battering rams against the gates, to throw up earthworks, and to dig trenches.
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In his right hand was the divination [for] Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build forts.
23 The people of Jerusalem won't believe this because of the treaties they have made. But this prediction is to remind them of their sins and to warn them that they will be captured.
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It shall be to them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths to them; but he brings iniquity to memory, that they may be taken.
24 This then is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: Your sins are exposed. Everyone knows how guilty you are. You show your sins in your every action. You stand condemned, and I will hand you over to your enemies.
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Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because you have come to memory, you shall be taken with the hand.
25 "You wicked, unholy ruler of Israel, your day, the day of your final punishment, is coming.
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You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,
26 I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken. Take off your crown and your turban. Nothing will be the same again. Raise the poor to power! Bring down those who are ruling!
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thus says the Lord Yahweh: Remove the turban, and take off the crown; this [shall be] no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
27 Ruin, ruin! Yes, I will make the city a ruin. But this will not happen until the one comes whom I have chosen to punish the city. To him I will give it.
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I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [him].
28 "Mortal man, prophesy. Announce what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to the Ammonites, who are insulting Israel. Say to them: "A sword is ready to destroy; It is polished to kill, to flash like lightning.
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You, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach; and say you, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;
29 The visions that you see are false, and the predictions you make are lies. You are wicked and evil, and your day is coming, the day of your final punishment. The sword is going to fall on your necks.
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while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies to you, to lay you on the necks of the wicked who are deadly wounded, whose day is come in the time of the iniquity of the end.
30 " "Put up the sword! I will judge you in the place where you were created, in the land where you were born.
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Cause it to return into its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your birth, will I judge you.
31 You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction.
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I will pour out my indignation on you; I will blow on you with the fire of my wrath; and I will deliver you into the hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy.
32 You will be destroyed by fire. Your blood will be shed in your own country, and no one will remember you any more.' " The Lord has spoken.
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You shall be for fuel to the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall be no more remembered: for I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.