mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house
of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings,
and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
[41] I will accept you with your sweet savour,
when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and
I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
[42] And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall
bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your
fathers.
[43] And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and
ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
[44] 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.
[45] Moreover
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[46] 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;
[47] 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.
[48] And all flesh shall see that I the
LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
[49] Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he
not speak parables?
Ezek.21
[1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem,
and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
[3] 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.
[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 return 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 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.
[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 furbished:
[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 give 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.
[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 trial,
and what if the sword contemn 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 other, 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 fury to rest: I the LORD have said it.
[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 Rabbath 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 battering rams against the gates, to cast a
mount, and to build a 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 taken.
[24] Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions