Ezekiel 5

1 “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

And thou, son of man, take thee a sword sharper than a barber's razor; thou shalt procure it for thyself, and shalt bring it upon thine head, and upon thy beard: and thou shalt take a pair of scales, and shalt separate the hair.

2 When the days of the siege have ended, you are to burn up a third of the hair inside the city; you are also to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind. For I will unleash a sword behind them.

A fourth part thou shalt burn in the fire in the midst of the city, at the fulfillment of the days of the siege: and thou shalt take a fourth part, and burn it up in the midst of it: and a fourth part thou shalt cut with a sword round about it: and a fourth part thou shalt scatter to the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

3 But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.

And thou shalt take thence a few in number, and shalt wrap them in the fold of thy garment.

4 Again, take a few of these, throw them into the fire, and burn them. From there a fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.

And thou shalt take of these again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them up with fire: from thence shall come forth fire; and thou shalt say to the whole house of Israel,

5 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.

Thus saith the Lord; This is Jerusalem: I have set her and the countries round about her in the midst of the nations.

6 But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes worse than the countries around her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes.’

And thou shalt declare mine ordinances to the lawless one from out of the nations; and my statutes [to the sinful one] of the countries round about her: because they have rejected mine ordinances, and have not walked in my statutes.

7 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘You have been more insubordinate than the nations around you; you have not walked in My statutes or kept My ordinances, nor have you even conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.’

Therefore thus saith the Lord, Because your occasion [for sin has been taken] from the nations round about you, and ye have not walked in my statutes, nor kept mine ordinances, nay, ye have not even done according to the ordinances of the nations round about you; therefore thus saith the Lord;

8 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

Behold, I am against thee, and I will execute judgment in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

9 Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.

And I will do in thee things which I have not done, and the like of which I will not do again, for all thine abominations.

10 As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments against you and scatter all your remnant to every wind.’

Therefore the fathers shall eat [their] children in the midst of thee, and children shall eat [their] fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and I will scatter all that are left of thee to every wind.

11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.

Therefore, [as] I live, saith the Lord; surely, because thou hast defiled my holy things with all thine abominations, I also will reject thee; mine eye shall not spare, and I will have no mercy.

12 A third of your people will die by plague or be consumed by famine within you, a third will fall by the sword outside your walls, and a third I will scatter to every wind and unleash a sword behind them.

A fourth part of thee shall be cut off by pestilence, and a fourth part of thee shall be consumed in the midst of thee with famine: and [as for another] fourth part of thee, I will scatter them to every wind; and a fourth part of thee shall fall by sword round about thee, and I will draw out a sword after them.

13 And when My anger is spent and I have vented My wrath against them, I will be appeased. And when I have spent My wrath on them, they will know that I, the LORD, in My zeal have spoken.

And my wrath and mine anger shall be accomplished upon them: and thou shalt know that I the Lord have spoken in my jealousy, when I have accomplished mine anger upon them.

14 I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.

And I will make thee desolate, and thy daughters round about thee, in the sight of every one that passes through.

15 So you will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.

And thou shalt be mourned over and miserable among the nations round about thee, when I have executed judgments in thee in the vengeance of my wrath. I the Lord have spoken.

16 When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.

And when I have sent against them shafts of famine, then they shall be consumed, and I will break the strength of thy bread.

17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

So I will send forth against thee famine and evil beasts, and I will take vengeance upon thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through upon thee; and I will bring a sword upon thee round about. I the Lord have spoken.