Ezekiel On G-d’s Fire Against Sinners

Not even the holy land and the holiest city — Israel and Jerusalem are not absolved; neither the righteous with the sinners.

Evil is not above G-d. But G-d uses it as a result of disobedience that is beyond the limit.

“G-d’s Sword Against Jerusalem”

Say to the forest of the south, ‘Hear the word of Hashem! Thus said the Lord Hashem/Elohim: Behold, I am igniting a fire within you that will consume within you every fresh tree and every dry tree, and intense flame that will not be extinguished, and every face from south to north will be singed by it.
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Then all flesh will see that I, Hashem, have kindled it; it shall not be extinguished.’”
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I then said, “Ah, Lord Hashem/Elohim! they say about me, ‘Behold, he invents parables!’”
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Say to the soil of Israel, ‘Thus said Hashem: Behold, I am against you! I will draw My sword from its scabbard and I will cut off righteous and wicked from [among] you.
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“And you, Son of Man, groan! With a shattering of the loins and with bitterness, groan before their eyes.
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… It is coming; it will happen — the word of the Lord Hashem/Elohim.’”
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The word of Hashem came to me, saying, “Son of Man, prophesy and say: Thus said the Lord: Say: A sword, a sword has been sharpened, and that it may have a flash has it been burnished. Can we rejoice? The staff [that beats] My son scorns every wood!
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“And you, Son of Man, prophesy and pound hand to hand: The third sword will be doubled, the sword of the slain; it is the sword of the great massacre that will penetrate to them.
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For the king of Babylonia stood at the crossroads, at the head of the two roads, to practice divination — he shot arrows, inquired of the teraphim and looked into the liver.
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Therefore, thus said the Lord Hashem/Elohim: Since you cause your iniquity to be recalled, as your sins are revealed, as your transgressions are seen through all your deeds, because you are recalled [for your evilness], you will be captured by the hand [of Nebuchadnezzar].
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Thus said the Lord Hashem/Elohim: Remove the turban, lift off the crown! This will not remain as such: The degraded will be exalted and the exalted will be degraded.
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while worthless [prophecies] are seen for you, while falsehood is divined for you — to place you with the necks of the slain wicked ones whose day has come at the time of the final iniquity.
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.. for I, Hashem, have spoken.”
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1 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, set your face southward and speak to the south and prophesy to the forest of the field in the south.
3 And you shall say to the forest of the south, Hearken to the word of the Lord God: Behold I kindle within you fire, and it will consume within you every moist tree and every dry tree; it shall not be quenched, yea a flaming flame, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.
4 And all flesh shall see that I am the Lord; I have kindled it, it shall not be quenched.
5 Then said I, “Alas, O Lord God, they say of me, ‘Is he not an inventor of parables?’ “
6 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
7 “Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and prophesy about the sanctuaries and prophesy about the land of Israel.
8 And you shall say to the land of Israel; So said the Lord: Behold I am against you, and I shall draw my sword from its sheath, and I shall cut off from you righteous and wicked.
9 Since I cut off from you righteous and wicked, Therefore, My sword shall emerge from its sheath upon all flesh from south to north.
10 And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord; I have taken My sword out of its sheath, it shall no longer return.
11 And you, son of man, sigh; with the breaking of the loins and with bitterness, you shall sigh before their eyes.
12 And it will come to pass that they will say to you, ‘Concerning what are you sighing?’ And you shall say, ‘Because of news that is coming, and every heart will melt, all hands will become feeble, every spirit will grow faint and all knees will go like water. Behold it is coming and will happen,’ ” says the Lord God.
13 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
14 “Son of man, prophesy and say; So said the Lord: Say; A sword, a sword, it is sharpened and also furbished.
15 In order to make a slaughter, it has been sharpened; in order that it may glitter, it is furbished. Shall we rejoice? the rod for My son disdains every stick.
16 Then He had it furbished to grasp in the hand; that is the sword that was sharpened, and it was furbished to place into the hand of a slayer.
17 Cry and wail, O son of man, for it will be upon My people, it is upon all the princes of Israel; those gathered to the sword, they were with My people; therefore, clap upon your thigh.
18 For a test-and what of it, if there be also a rod that disdains-He will not be, says the Lord God.
19 And you, son of man, prophesy and clap your hands one upon the other, and a third sword shall be doubled, a sword of the slain; that is the sword of the great slaughter, which penetrates to them.
20 In order to melt the heart and to increase the stumbling blocks; by all your cities, I gave the scream of the sword. Woe, it is made to glitter, enwrapped for the slaughter.
21 Get yourself to one side to the right, or direct yourself to the left; where is your face directed?
22 I, too, shall clap My hands, one upon the other, and I shall put My fury to rest; I, the Lord, have spoken.”
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
24 “Now you, son of man, make for yourself two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to come; from one land both of them will emanate, and clear a place; at the head of the road to the city clear [it].
25 You shall make a road for the coming of the sword to Rabbah of the children of Ammon and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
26 For the king of Babylon stood at the crossroads, at the head of the two roads, to divine; he furbished the arrows, he inquired of the teraphim, looked into the liver.
27 At his right was the divination to Jerusalem, to appoint officers, to open his mouth with murder, to raise their voice with a shout, to station officers over the gates, to pour a siege mound, to build a tower.
28 And it was to them like a false divination in their eyes; seven sevens were upon them, and he brings iniquity to be remembered in order that they be seized.
29 Therefore, so said the Lord God: Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are revealed so that your sins appear in all your deeds; because of your being remembered, you shall be seized in the hand.
30 And you, wicked man, sentenced to be slain, O prince of Israel, whose day has come at the time of the final iniquity.
31 So said the Lord God: I shall remove the turban and lift off the crown; neither this nor that [will remain]; the humble will be uplifted, and the high will be humbled.
32 A ruin, a ruin, a ruin I will make it; this too will not be, until he who has the judgment will come, and I will deliver him.
33 And you, son of man, prophesy and say; So said the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon and concerning their blasphemy, and you shall say; A sword, a drawn sword, furbished for slaughter, to consume in order to glitter.
34 When you prophesy vanity for yourself, when you divine lies for yourself, to place you with the necks of the slain of the wicked, whose day has come at the time of the final iniquity.
35 It has been returned to its sheath; in the place you were created, in the land of your dwelling, I shall judge you.
36 I shall pour out My fury upon you; with the fire of My wrath I shall blow upon you and deliver you into the hand of brutish men, craftsmen of destruction.
37 You shall be fuel for the fire; your blood shall be in the midst of the land; you shall not be remembered, for I, the Lord, have spoken.”