1. And the word of the Lord came to me saying,
2. "Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel;
3. and say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord, "Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked.
4. Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north.
5. Thus all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again."'
6. As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight.
7. And when they say to you, 'Why do you groan?' you shall say, 'Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,' declares the Lord God."
8. Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
9. "Son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord.' Say, 'A sword, a sword sharpened And also polished!
10. 'Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!' Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree?
11. It is given to be polished, that it may be handled; the sword is sharpened and polished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.