² One third of the hair you shall burn in the fire inside the city when the days of the siege are completed; one third you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city;^[a] and one third you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them.^(A)

¹² One third of you shall die of pestilence or be consumed by famine among you; one third shall fall by the sword around you; and one third I will scatter to every wind and will unsheathe the sword after them.^(A)

³³ And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation and your cities a waste.^(A)

The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed

4 “And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem,^{(A) 2} and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.^{(B) 3} Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.^(C)

⁴ “Then lie on your left side and place the guilt of the house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their guilt for the number of the days that you lie there.^{(D) 5} For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their guilt, and so you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel.^{(E) 6} When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the guilt of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, one day for each year. ⁷ You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and with your arm bared you shall prophesy against it.^{(F) 8} See, I am putting cords on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.^(G)

¹⁴ I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.^(A)

² And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:

¹⁶ I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known, and I will send the sword after them until I have consumed them.^(A)

² “Thus says the Lord: Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live; they shall have their lives as a prize of war and live.^(A)