CHAPTER 5
Now 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.’
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,
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.
Because of
all
your abominations,
I will do
to you what
I have never
done before
and
will never
do
again.
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
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.
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.
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.
I will make
you a ruin
and a disgrace
among the nations
around you,
in the sight
of all
who pass by.
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.
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 bread.
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.”