Ezekiel 21:8

Verse 8 of 32. The 21st of 48 chapters in Ezekiel, in The Major Prophets.

4Seeing 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:

5That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.

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

7And 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.

8Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

10It 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.

11And 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.

12Cry 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.

Read Ezekiel 21

King James Version. Public domain. Set as prose throughout, including the poetry, because the text is published to us without its lines.