Ezekiel
Chapter 5
1 You, human, use a sharp knife, use a razor like a barber, and shave your head and beard: then use scales to weigh and separate the hair.
2 You must burn a third of it in the city center when the siege ends. Take another third and hit it with a knife. Scatter the last third in the wind, and I will chase them with a sword.
3 You should also take a few of them and tie them in the hem of your clothing.
4 Then take some more, throw them into the fire, and burn them; from there a fire will spread to all the people of Israel.
5 God says, “This is Jerusalem: I have placed it at the center of the nations and lands that surround it.”
6 She has made my rules more evil than the nations, and my laws more than the countries around her: they have rejected my rules and laws, they have not followed them.
7 Therefore, God says: Because you have grown more than the countries around you and have not followed my rules, nor kept my decisions, nor acted according to the rules of the countries around you;
8 So God says: “Look, I am against you. I will judge you where everyone can see.”
9 I will do to you what I have never done before, and will never do again, because of all your terrible actions.
10 So parents will eat their children among you, and children will eat their parents. I will judge you, and those of you who survive, I will spread in every direction.
11 So, as I live, says God; because you made my sanctuary unclean with all your hateful things and horrible acts, I will reduce you; I won’t look away or feel sorry for you.
12 One third of you will die from disease and hunger in your midst, another third will be killed by the sword surrounding you, and I will scatter the last third to every direction and chase them with a sword.
13 My anger will be fulfilled, and I will place my fury on them until I am satisfied. Then they will realize that I, God, have said this because of my intense passion, once I have carried out my fury on them.
14 I will make you empty and a disgrace among the nearby nations, for everyone passing by to see.
15 It will be a shame and an insult, a lesson and a shock to the countries around you, when I judge you with anger, rage, and harsh warnings. I, God, have said this.
16 When I send the bad arrows of hunger that will destroy you, which I’ll send to ruin you, I’ll make the famine worse and break your bread supply.
17 I will bring hunger and wild animals to you, and they will take away your people. Disease and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will attack you with war. I, God, have said this.