And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel. And 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. Seeing 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: That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. Sigh, therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shall 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 (verses 1-7). A fearful word it is coming from the lips of Jehovah, who had yearned over Jerusalem and the nation, "Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked." It was to be an indiscriminate execution of God's judgment, those who claimed righteousness were to fall under the sword of vengeance like the wicked. It was to be a widespread judgment. "My sword shall go forth out of its sheath against all flesh--that all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of its sheath; it shall not return any more." While here it refers to all the nations, to Jerusalem as well as to Judea, there are other prophecies which include under the term "all flesh" the Gentile nations as well. "For by fire and by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many" (Isa. lxvi:16). Fear and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth" (Isa. xxiv:17). This will be at the close of the present age. And do not the events in the world to-day indicate the rapid approach of the judgment sword?