Ezekiel 21:1-7

11The Lord gave this message to me:

2‘Son of man, look towards Jerusalem. Speak about the things in my holy place that are wrong. Speak my message to warn the people of Israel.

3Say to them, “This is what the Lord says: I am now your enemy. I will take my sword in my hand. I will use it to kill both righteous people and wicked people.

4I will remove righteous people and wicked people from among you. So I will use my sword to attack everyone in the land, from the north to the south.

5Then all the people will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who is punishing them with my sword. And I will not put it back in its place.”

6So now, son of man, cry aloud. Let the people see how sad and upset you are.

7They will ask you, “Why are you so sad?” Then you will say, “I am sad because of the news that will soon come. Every one of you will be very afraid. Your hands will be weak and your knees will shake.” You can be sure that this will happen very soon. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’