Ezekiel 5
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.
13 ‘Then My anger will be spent and I will satisfy My wrath on them, and I will be (T)appeased; then they will know that I, the Lord, have (U)spoken in My zeal, when I have spent My wrath upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you a site of ruins and a (V)disgrace among the nations that surround you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. 15 So [h]it will be a disgrace, an object of abuse, a (W)warning, and an object of horror to the nations that surround you when I (X)execute judgments against you in anger, wrath, and raging reprimands. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 When I send against them the [i]deadly arrows of famine which [j]were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will also intensify the famine upon you and break off your [k]provision of bread. 17 (Y)I will send on you famine and vicious animals, and they will bereave you of children; (Z)plague and bloodshed also will pass through you, and I will bring the sword on you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 5:1 Lit pass it over your head
- Ezekiel 5:1 Lit them
- Ezekiel 5:2 Lit it
- Ezekiel 5:3 Lit there
- Ezekiel 5:4 Lit go out
- Ezekiel 5:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
- Ezekiel 5:6 Lit in them, My statutes
- Ezekiel 5:15 Ancient versions you
- Ezekiel 5:16 Lit evil
- Ezekiel 5:16 Or are for destruction, which I will send
- Ezekiel 5:16 Lit staff
Ezekiel 5
Revised Standard Version
A Sword against Jerusalem
5 “And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword; use it as a barber’s razor and pass it over your head and your beard; then take balances for weighing, and divide the hair. 2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed; and a third part you shall take and strike with the sword round about the city; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 And you shall take from these a small number, and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 And of these again you shall take some, and cast them into the fire, and burn them in the fire; from there a fire will come forth into all the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries round about her. 6 And she has wickedly rebelled against my ordinances[a] more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries round about her, by rejecting my ordinances and not walking in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes or kept my ordinances, but have acted[b] according to the ordinances of the nations that are round about you; 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will cut you down;[c] my eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in the midst of you; a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself; and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy, when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover I will make you a desolation and an object of reproach among the nations round about you and in the sight of all that pass by. 15 You shall be[d] a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations round about you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious chastisements—I, the Lord, have spoken— 16 when I loose against you[e] my deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will loose to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you, and break your staff of bread. 17 I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 5:6 Or changed my ordinances into wickedness
- Ezekiel 5:7 Another reading is and have not acted
- Ezekiel 5:11 Another reading is I will withdraw
- Ezekiel 5:15 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb And it shall be
- Ezekiel 5:16 Heb them
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.