< Ezekiel 5 >

1 “Then you, son of man, take a sharp sword as a barber's razor for yourself, and pass the razor over your head and your beard, then take scales to weigh and divide your hair.
“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.
2 Burn a third of it with fire in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are completed, and take a third of the hair and strike it with the sword all around the city. Then scatter a third of it to the wind, and I will draw out a sword to chase after the people.
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.
3 But take a small number of hairs from them and tie them into the folds of your robe.
But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.
4 Then take more of the hair and throw it into the midst of the fire; and burn it in the fire; from there a fire will go out to all the house of Israel.”
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.
5 The Lord Yahweh says this, “This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations, where I have placed her, and where I have surrounded her with other lands.
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.
6 But she has in wickedness rejected my decrees more than the nations have, and my statutes more than the countries that surround her. The people have rejected my judgments and have not walked in my statutes.”
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.’
7 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, “Because you are more troublesome than the nations that surround you and have not walked in my statutes or acted according to my decrees, or even acted according to the decrees of the nations that surround you,”
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.’
8 therefore the Lord Yahweh says this, “Behold! I myself will act against you. I will execute judgments within your midst for the nations to see.
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.
9 I will do to you what I have not done and the like of which I will not do again, because of all your disgusting actions.
Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.
10 Therefore fathers will eat the children in your midst, and sons will eat their fathers, since I will execute judgment on you and scatter to every direction all of you who are left.
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.’
11 Therefore, as I live—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—it is certainly because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your hateful things and with all your disgusting deeds, that I myself will reduce you in number; my eye will not have pity on you, and I will not spare you.
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.
12 A third of you will die by plague, and they will be consumed by famine in your midst. A third will fall by the sword surrounding you. Then I will scatter a third in every direction, and draw out a sword to chase after them as well.
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.
13 Then my wrath will be completed, and I will cause my fury toward them to rest. I will be satisfied, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my wrath when I have completed my fury against them.
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.
14 I will make you a desolation and a reproach to the nations that surround you in the sight of everyone who passes by.
I will make you a ruin and a disgrace among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15 So Jerusalem will become something for other people to condemn and to mock, a warning and a horror to the nations that surround you. I will execute judgments against you in wrath and fury, and with a furious rebuke—I, Yahweh have declared this!
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.
16 I will send out harsh arrows of famine against you that will become the means with which I will destroy you. For I will increase the famine on you and break your staff of bread.
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.
17 I will send a famine and disasters against you so you will be childless. Plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring a sword against you—I, Yahweh, have declared this.”
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.”

< Ezekiel 5 >