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.

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.

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

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.

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.’

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.’

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.

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

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.’

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.”

1 ¶ And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause [it] to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the [hair].

2 Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, [and] smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

4 Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; [for] thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

5 ¶ Thus saith the Lord GOD; This [is] Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries [that are] round about her.

6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that [are] round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that [are] round about you, [and] have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that [are] round about you;

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, [am] against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

9 And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.

10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.

11 Wherefore, [as] I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish [thee]; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.

12 A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

13 Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken [it] in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

14 Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that [are] round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that [are] round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken [it].

16 When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for [their] destruction, [and] which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

17 So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken [it].

1 And thou, son of man, take a sword sharp as a clipper's knife, and run it over thy head and beard; and take a pair of balances, and divide them therewith.

2 The one third part thou shalt burn with fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are expired; the other third part take, and smite it round about with the sword; the last third part scatter in the wind, that I may draw out the sword after them.

3 but take a little of it and tie it in your coat-tail.

4 And take again some of it, and cast it into a fire, and burn it with fire: and there shall be a fire of it upon all the house of Israel.

5 Thus saith the LORD GOD; This is Jerusalem, which I have set among the nations, and round about her lands.

6 But she hath turned my law into ungodly doctrine more than the heathen, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her. For they reject my law, and will not walk after my statutes.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye do more than the heathen that are round about you, and do not walk in my statutes, nor do my judgments, but do after the manner of the heathen that are round about you,

8 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will also remember thee, and will execute judgment upon thee, that the heathen may see.

9 And I will deal so with thee, as I never have done, nor will do henceforth, because of all thine abominations.

10 And in thee shall the fathers devour their children, and the children their fathers: and I will execute such judgment upon thee, that all thy remnant shall be scattered abroad.

11 Therefore, as surely as I live, saith the LORD GOD, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy abominations and thy idols, I will also smite thee: mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have mercy upon thee.

12 The third part of thee shall die of pestilence, and be consumed with famine; and the other third part of thee shall fall by the sword round about thee: and the last third part will I scatter abroad, and will draw out the sword after them.

13 So shall my wrath be accomplished, and my fury be turned upon them, to cool my courage: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal, when I have turned my fury upon them.

14 I will make thee a desolation and a reproach in the sight of the heathen that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

15 And thou shalt be a reproach, and a scorn, and an example, and a wonder, unto all the heathen that are round about thee, when I execute judgment upon thee with wrath, and with fury, and with wrathful reproach, saith the LORD,

16 And when I shall shoot wicked arrows of hunger among them, which shall be hurtful, and I shall shoot them out to destroy you, and cause the hunger to increase upon you, and take away the supply of bread.

17 Yea, I will send famine and evil beasts among you, and they shall make you childless: and pestilence and flood shall pass among you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I the LORD have spoken it.