Ezekiel 5
1 Thou therefore son of man Take thee a sharp cutting instrument, a barber’s razor, shalt thou take thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy chin, —and shalt take the balances for weighing, and shalt divide the hair.
“Son of man, go and shave your head and your beard using a sharp sword like a barber's razor. Then divide up the hair using a set of scales.
2 A third part in the fire, shalt thou burn in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled, —and thou shalt take a third part, thou shalt smite it with the cuting instrument round about it, and a third part, shalt thou scatter to the wind, and, a sword, will I, make bare after them;
Once the days of the siege have finished, burn up one third of the hair inside the city; slash at another third with a sword around the city; and scatter another third in the wind. I will let loose a sword behind them to chase them.
3 and thou shalt take from thence, a few in number, —and shalt bind them in thy skirts;
Take just a few hairs and tuck them into the hem of your clothes.
4 and of them, again take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire, -therefrom, shall go forth a fire unto all the house of Israel.
Take some of these and toss them into the fire to burn them. A fire will spread from there to burn everyone in Israel.
5 Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh, This, is Jerusalem, In the midst of the nations, I placed her, — and of the countries round about her;
This is what the Lord God says: This represents Jerusalem. I placed her right in the middle of the nations, surrounded by other countries.
6 But she hath changed my regulations into lawlessness, more than the nations, And my statutes more than the countries which are round bout her, For my regulations, have they rejected, And in my statutes, have they not walked.
But she rebelled against my rules, acting more wickedly than the nations, and she defied my regulations more than the countries surrounding her. Her people rejected my rules and refused to follow my regulations.
7 Therefore, Thus saith My Lord, Yahweh. Because ye have become more rebellious than the nations who are round about you, In my statutes, have not walked. And my regulations, have not done, And according to the regulations of the nations which are round about you, have not done:
Consequently this is what the Lord God says: You have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You refused to follow my rules and keep my regulations. In fact you didn't even live up to the standards of the nations surrounding you.
8 Therefore, Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, Lo! I am against thee, even I, Therefore will I, execute in thy midst, judgments, in the eyes of the nations;
So this is what the Lord God says: Watch out, because it's me who is condemning you, Jerusalem! I'm going to carry out my sentence against you while the other nations watch.
9 Yea I will execute upon thee that which I have not executed, And like unto which I will not execute again, - Because of all thine abominations.
Because of all the disgusting things you've done, I'm going to do to you what I've never done before—and I won't ever do again.
10 Therefore, fathers will eat sons in thy midst, And sons will eat fathers, — And I will execute upon thee judgments, And will scatter the whole remnant of thee, to every wind.
In your city parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. I'm going to punish you and scatter in every directions those who are left.
11 Therefore as I live, Declareth My Lord Yahweh, — Surely because my sanctuary, thou hast defiled, with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations Even I also, will cut off, and mine eye, shall not spare, Yea even I will not pity.
As I live, declares the Lord God, because you have made my sanctuary unclean with all your offensive idols and disgusting practices, I will stop treating you well. I won't be kind to you—I won't show you any pity.
12 The third part of thee by pestilence, shall die, and by famine, be consumed in thy midst And the third part by the sword, shall fall round about thee, - And the third part to every wind, will I scatter, and a sword, will I make bare after them.
A third of your people will die from disease or starvation inside the city; a third will be killed by the sword outside the city walls; and a third I will scatter in the wind in all directions, and let loose a sword behind them to chase them.
13 So shall mine anger have an end, And I will cause mine indignation, to find rest, upon them, and will console myself, - And they shall know that, I, Yahweh, have spoken in my jealousy, when mine indignation hath come to an end, upon them.
Once my anger is over and I've finished punishing them, then I'll be satisfied. When I've finished punishing them, then they'll know that I, the Lord, meant what I said when I spoke so strongly.
14 And I will deliver thee up to desolation and reproach, among the nations that are round about thee, —in the eyes of every passer-by.
I'm going to ruin you and humiliate you in front of the nations surrounding you, in the sight of every passer-by.
15 So shall it become a reproach and an insult a warning and an astonishment, to the nations that are round about thee, —in that I have executed upon thee judgments in anger and in indignation and in rebukes of indignation, I, Yahweh have spoken:
You will be criticized and mocked, you'll be a warning and something horrifying to the surrounding nations when I carry out my sentence against you in my rage and furious anger. I the Lord have spoken.
16 In that I have sent the malignant arrows of famine among them which were for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, —and famine, will I increase upon you, and will break for you the staff of bread.
When I pour down on you deadly arrows of famine and destruction they're intended to kill you. I will make your famine worse by stopping your food supply.
17 So will I send upon you famine and mischievous beast and they shall bereave thee, —and pestilence and blood, shall pass through thee, —and a sword, will I bring in upon thee, I Yahweh, have spoken.
I will send famine and wild animals to attack you. You'll have no children left. Disease and killing will sweep over you, and I will bring armies to attack you. I the Lord have spoken.”
