15. I have appointed my sword to slaughter people at all their gatesso that their hearts will sink and many will die.Yes! It’s ready to flash like lightning.It’s polished to kill.
16. Sword, cut to the right.Cut to the leftor wherever your blade is turned.
17. I will also clap my hands and rest from my fury.I, the Lord, have spoken.’ ”
18. The Lord spoke his word to me. He said,
19. “Son of man, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can take. Both of these roads should start from the same country. Make a sign, and put it where the roads start to fork toward the cities.
20. Mark the road that the king and his sword can take to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and mark the road that leads to Judah and the fortified city of Jerusalem.
21. The king of Babylon will stop where the roads branch off, where there is a fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. He will shake some arrows, ask his household gods for help, and examine animal livers.
22. The omens will indicate that he should go to the right, to Jerusalem. So he will set up his battering rams there, give the order to kill, raise a battle cry, aim the battering rams against the city gates, put up ramps, and set up blockades.
23. The people won’t believe this because they have made treaties with other nations. But the king of Babylon will remind them of their sins, and they will be captured.