1. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2. “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach to the sanctuaries, and prophesy to the land of Israel.
3. And you must say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says Yahweh: “Look! I am against you, and I will draw out my sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4. Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword will go out from its sheath to all creatures from south to north.
5. And they will know, all creatures, that I, Yahweh, I will bring out my sword from its sheath; it will not return again!” ’
6. And you, son of man, groan with shaking hips, and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes.
7. And then when they say to you, ‘On account of what are you groaning?’ then you must say, ‘On account of the report, for it is coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go like water.’ Look! It is coming, and it will happen!” declares the Lord Yahweh.
8. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
9. “Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord,’ say, ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened and is also polished.
10. It is sharpened to slaughter a slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! Or will we rejoice? A rod, my son, is despising every tree.