Ezekiel 5

1 “Also, you human, [when you start doing those things, ] take a sharp sword and use it like [SIM] a razor to shave your head and your beard. Then put the hair that you shaved off on scales, and divide the [into three equal parts].

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 When the time during [you will symbolize that] the city will be [by enemy troops] ends, put a third of the hair inside [drawing of the] city and burn it. Take another third of the hair, [scatter it] all [the drawing of] the city, and then strike it with your sword. That will symbolize that I will strike the people of Jerusalem [their enemies’] swords. Then allow the wind to scatter the other third of the hair. That will symbolize [even if they flee from the city], I will [cause their enemies to] pursue them and attack them with swords.

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 Take a few of your hairs and tuck them into the folds of your robe.

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

4 Then take a few of those hairs, throw them into the fire, and burn them up. [That will symbolize that] a fire will spread from Jerusalem [and destroy things] throughout Israel.

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 This is what [I, ] Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘[drawing will represent] Jerusalem, [the city which] I have set in the center of the nations, with [other] countries around it.

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 But the wicked people of Jerusalem rebelled against [obeying] my commands, and [they show that] they are more wicked than the people of the surrounding countries. They rejected my laws and refused to obey my commands.’

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, this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘You people of Jerusalem have been more rebellious than the people of the nations around you; you have not obeyed any of my laws [DOU]. You have not even obeyed the laws of the nations around you!’

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, this is [I, ] Yahweh the Lord, say: ‘I am opposed to [you people of] Jerusalem. I will punish you, and the [people of other] nations will see it happen.

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 Because of all your detestable [idols], I will punish [people of Jerusalem] like I have never done before and will never do again.

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 As a result, parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their [because there will be nothing else to eat]. I will punish you [severely], and I will cause those who will still be alive to be scattered in all directions [IDM].’

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 Therefore, I, Yahweh the Lord, declare that as surely as I am alive, because you have polluted my temple with all your disgusting [statues of idols] and by the other detestable things that you do, I will no longer bless you. I will not pity [you] or act mercifully [toward you].

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 One-third of your people will die inside the city because of the plagues [they will experience] or by (famine/lack of food). One-third of your people will be killed [your enemies’] swords outside the city. And one-third I will cause to be scattered in all directions; [your enemies] will [still] pursue you and kill you with their swords.

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 Then I will no longer be angry with you; I will stop punishing [MTY] you after I have gotten revenge on you. And when I stop punishing you, you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken to you because I have been very strongly concerned [what you have done].

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 I will cause your [city] to be a ruins, with the result that [people of other] nations that are around you will pass by and see it and sneer at you.

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 They will make fun of you and taunt you. When I severely punish you because of my being very angry [DOU] with you, they will be horrified and they will be warned. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.

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 cut off your food supply and cause there to be more famine, [it will be as though] [MET] I am shooting at you with my arrows that will destroy you.

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 I will cause you to experience a famine, and I will send wild beasts to attack you and your children, and [all] your children will be killed. You will experience plagues and wars, and I will cause [your enemies] to attack you with their swords. [That will surely happen because] I, Yahweh, have said it.”

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].