Ezekiel 5:1-12

New American Standard Bible

Jerusalem’s Desolation Foretold

5 “As for you, son of man, take a ^(A)sharp sword; take and ^[a]use it as a barber’s razor on your head and beard. Then take ^(B)scales for weighing and divide ^[b]the hair. ² A third you shall burn in the fire at the center of the city, when the ^(C)days of the siege are completed. Then you shall take a third and strike it with the sword all around ^[c]the city, and a third you shall scatter to the wind; for I will ^(D)unsheathe a sword behind them. ³ Take also a few hairs in number from ^[d]them and bind them in the hems of your robes. ⁴ Take again some of them and throw them into the fire and burn them in the fire; from it a fire will ^[e]spread to all the house of Israel.

⁵ “This is what the Lord ^[f]God says: ‘This is ^(E)Jerusalem; I have placed her at the ^(F)center of the nations, with lands around her. ⁶ But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes ^(G)more than the lands which surround her; for they have ^(H)rejected My ordinances and have not walked ^[g]in My statutes.’ ⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Because you have ^(I)more turmoil than the nations that surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor executed My ordinances, nor acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you,’ ⁸ therefore, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I, even I, am ^(J)against you, and I will ^(K)execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. ⁹ And because of all your abominations I will do among you what I have ^(L)not done, and the like of which I will never do again. ¹⁰ Therefore, ^(M)fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and ^(N)scatter all your remnant to every wind. ¹¹ Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have ^(O)defiled My sanctuary with all your ^(P)detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. ¹² A third of you will die by ^(Q)plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will ^(R)scatter to every wind, and I will ^(S)unsheathe a sword behind them.