A-Z: Common sayings from the Bible: Parting of the ways

Usage

A difficult decision, often relating to relationships where one party wants something different from the other.

Definition

The king of Babylon uses divination to decide which way to take his army ' to attack Jerusalem or another place. Here the phrase means a road which divides.

Bible References

Ezekiel 21:21

English Standard Version
King James Version

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel ³and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against you and will draw my sword from its sheath and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. ⁴Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. ⁵And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn my sword from its sheath; it shall not be sheathed again. ⁶As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes. ⁷And when they say to you, Why do you groan? you shall say, Because of the news that it is coming. Every heart will melt, and all hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming, and it will be fulfilled, declares the Lord God. ⁸And the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, ¹⁰sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! (Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) ¹¹So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. ¹²Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. ¹³For it will not be a testing - what could it do if you despise the rod? declares the Lord God. ¹⁴As for you, son of man, prophesy. Clap your hands and let the sword come down twice, yes, three times, the sword for those to be slain. It is the sword for the great slaughter, which surrounds them, ¹⁵that their hearts may melt, and many stumble. At all their gates I have given the glittering sword. Ah, it is made like lightning; it is taken up for slaughter. ¹⁶Cut sharply to the right; set yourself to the left, wherever your face is directed. ¹⁷I also will clap my hands, and I will satisfy my fury; I the Lord have spoken. ¹⁸The word of the Lord came to me again: ¹⁹As for you, son of man, mark two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to come. Both of them shall come from the same land. And make a signpost; make it at the head of the way to a city. ²⁰Mark a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the Ammonites and to Judah, into Jerusalem the fortified. ²¹For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination. He shakes the arrows; he consults the teraphim; he looks at the liver. ²²Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers. ²³But to them it will seem like a false divination. They have sworn solemn oaths, but he brings their guilt to remembrance, that they may be taken. ²⁴Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have made your guilt to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your deeds your sins appear - because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand. ²⁵And you, O profane wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day has come, the time of your final punishment, ²⁶thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban and take off the crown. Things shall not remain as they are. Exalt that which is low, and bring low that which is exalted. ²⁷A ruin, ruin, ruin I will make it. This also shall not be, until he comes, the one to whom judgment belongs, and I will give it to him. ²⁸And you, son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach; say, A sword, a sword is drawn for the slaughter. It is polished to consume and to flash like lightning - ²⁹while they see for you false visions, while they divine lies for you - to place you on the necks of the profane wicked, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment. ³⁰Return it to its sheath. In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you. ³¹And I will pour out my indignation upon you; I will blow upon you with the fire of my wrath, and I will deliver you into the hands of brutish men, skillful to destroy. ³²You shall be fuel for the fire. Your blood shall be in the midst of the land. You shall be no more remembered, for I the Lord have spoken.

¹And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, ²Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel, ³And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. 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. ¹³Because it is a trial, and what if the sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, saith the Lord GOD. ¹⁴Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together. and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. ¹⁵I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter. ¹⁶Go thee one way or other, either on the right hand, or on the left, whithersoever thy face is set. ¹⁷I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury to rest: I the LORD have said it. ¹⁸The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, ¹⁹Also, thou son of man, appoint thee two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both twain shall come forth out of one land: and choose thou a place, choose it at the head of the way to the city. ²⁰Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. ²¹For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. ²²At his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to appoint captains, to open the mouth in the slaughter, to lift up the voice with shouting, to appoint battering rams against the gates, to cast a mount, and to build a fort. ²³And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken. ²⁴Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are discovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because, I say, that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand. ²⁵And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, ²⁶Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. ²⁷I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. ²⁸And thou, son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning the Ammonites, and concerning their reproach; even say thou, The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering: ²⁹Whiles they see vanity unto thee, whiles they divine a lie unto thee, to bring thee upon the necks of them that are slain, of the wicked, whose day is come, when their iniquity shall have an end. ³⁰Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. ³¹And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. ³²Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the LORD have spoken it.

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