Ezekiel 21

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Ezekiel 21:1-32 (KJV) 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, 

When God speaks of prophesying to the land He  is speaking to those who live there.  Speak directly to my people.

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. 

God tells Ezekiel to tell the righteous and the wicked He is against both.  I do not understand why He is against the righteous, so I will have to wait to get an understanding.  Personally,  God has corrected my behavior, but I did not think He was against me.

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: 

God is speaking to the land and explaining what He will do.  All flesh will see the sword.

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. 

When God pulls His sword, it will not return void of its purpose.

6 Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of [thy] loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. 

Ezekiel shows them signs of pain.

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. 

When someone asks you why you sigh, tell them it is because of the destruction that is coming upon the land.

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: 

Tell them a sharp sword is coming, and it will accomplish its purpose.

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. 

The sword is ready, and it will come against those who are called My son.

11 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. 

I am giving the authorization to use the sword against my people.

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. 

Ezekiel, I want you to cry and make noise against the leaders of Israel.  And the people will be terrified.  Hit your thigh to show my fury.

13 Because [it is] a trial, and what if [the sword] contemn even the rod? it shall be no [more], saith the Lord GOD. 

This sword is against my people, and it will solve the problem.

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. 

Ezekiel, speak to them and hit your hands together   And pick up two swords, and this sword will be assigned to the leaders.

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. 

I have a special sword for the leaders.

16 Go thee one way or other, [either] on the right hand, [or] on the left, whithersoever thy face [is] set. 

Go to the right or to the left ,

17 I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said [it]. 

I will smite My hands, and I will cause my anger to rest.

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. 

Make it easy for Babylon to enter; give them two ways they can get in, and those two ways will be the only way they will exit.  Place a sign where they can find the headquarters easily.

20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. 

Make sure they do not leave out a way to come against Rabbath of the Ammonites, Lot's descendants, and Judah, a city surrounded by bars in Jerusalem.

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. 

Nebuchadnezzar will seek idols and images; he will check the liver of the animal.

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. 

The divination will show Jerusalem, and he will command his soldiers to seize and attack there at Jerusalem’s gate.

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. 

Jerusalem will say you are wrong, then the king will remind them of their sins, and the city will be taken.

24 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, [I say], that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.    

Once you remember your wrong, you will know why you have been taken.

25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity [shall have] an end, 

The leader will see the day of his error.

26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this [shall] not [be] the same: exalt [him that is] low, and abase [him that is] high. 

Remove the outfit of the king.  Bring down the high and lift the low.

27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no [more], until he come whose right it is; and I will give it [him]. 

I am destroying how things have been, and they will never be that way again.  I will send My son, who will make things right. 

28 And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword [is] drawn: for the slaughter [it is] furbished, to consume because of the glittering: 

Now tell Lot’s descendants they will see the sword.

29 Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of [them that are] slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity [shall have] an end. 

They will see things about you that are not true and spread lies about you; they will bring you to be numbered with the slain where the wicked will be found because this will be the end of their time.

30 Shall I cause [it] to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. 

Should I cause the sword to return to its sheath?  I will judge you in the land I created and where you were born.

31 And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, [and] skilful to destroy. 

I will pour out my unhappiness upon you, you will use fire and deliver you into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, who has no honor for who you are, and they will be organized in how they will bring you down.

32 Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no [more] remembered: for I the LORD have spoken [it].

What was once yours will be no more.  You will keep the fire burning; your blood will be found within the land.  No one will remember you after I bring judgment upon this land.