14. “Son of man, clap your hands to show your sadness, and speak to the people for me. Let the sword come down twice, no, three times! This sword is for killing the people. This is the sword for the great killing. This sword will cut into them.
15. Their hearts will melt with fear, and many people will fall. The sword will kill many people by the city gates. Yes, the sword will flash like lightning. It was polished to kill the people!
16. Sword, be sharp! Cut on the right side. Cut straight ahead. Cut on the left side. Go wherever your edge was chosen to go.
17. “Then I, too, will clap my hands and stop showing my anger. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
18. The word of the Lord came to me. He said,
19. “Son of man, draw two roads that the sword of the king of Babylon can use to come to Israel. Both roads will come from the same country. Then draw a sign at the head of the road to the city.
20. Use the sign to show which road the sword will use. One road leads to the Ammonite city of Rabbah. The other road leads to Judah, to the protected city, Jerusalem.
21. The king of Babylon has come to where the two roads separate. He uses magic to learn which way to go: He shakes his arrows, he asks his family idols, and he looks at the liver from an animal he has killed.
22. “The signs tell him to take the road on his right, the road leading to Jerusalem, where he will use battering rams. The signs tell him to give the command for his soldiers to begin the killing. They will shout the battle cry and set the battering rams against the gates. They will build a wall of dirt around the city and a dirt road leading up to the walls. They will build wooden towers to attack the city.
23. But the people in Jerusalem will think this is all a big mistake. They will not believe that this could happen, because they had made a peace agreement with Babylon’s king. But the king will remind them that they are guilty of breaking that agreement, and he will take them captive.”