Ezekiel 5
New King James Version
A Sword Against Jerusalem
5 “And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, (A)and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 (B)You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of (C)the city, when (D)the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after (E)them. 3 (F)You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take some of them again and (G)throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. 6 She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have [a]multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes (H)nor kept My judgments, [b]nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you’— 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 (I)And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations. 10 Therefore fathers (J)shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain I will (K)scatter to all the winds.
11 ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have (L)defiled My sanctuary with all your (M)detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; (N)My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. 12 (O)One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and (P)I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after (Q)them.
13 ‘Thus shall My anger (R)be spent, and I will (S)cause My fury to rest upon them, (T)and I will be avenged; (U)and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them. 14 Moreover (V)I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15 ‘So [c]it shall be a (W)reproach, a taunt, a (X)lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in (Y)furious rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 When I (Z)send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your (AA)supply of bread. 17 So I will send against you famine and (AB)wild beasts, and they will bereave you. (AC)Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’ ”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 5:7 Or raged
- Ezekiel 5:7 So with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. but have done (cf. 11:12)
- Ezekiel 5:15 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. you
Ezekiel 5
Good News Translation
Ezekiel Cuts His Hair
5 The Lord said, “Mortal man, take a sharp sword and use it to shave off your beard and all your hair. Then weigh the hair on scales and divide it into three parts. 2 Burn up a third of it in the city when the siege is over. Take another third and chop it up with your sword as you move around outside the city. Scatter the remaining third to the winds, and I will pursue it with my sword. 3 Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes. 4 Then take a few of them out again, throw them in the fire, and let them burn up. From them fire will spread to the whole nation of Israel.”
5 The Sovereign Lord said, “Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her. 6 But Jerusalem rebelled against my commands and showed that she was more wicked than the other nations, more disobedient than the countries around her. Jerusalem rejected my commands and refused to keep my laws. 7 Now listen, Jerusalem, to what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. By not obeying my laws or keeping my commands, you have caused more trouble than the nations around you. You have followed the customs of other nations. 8 And so I, the Sovereign Lord, am telling you that I am your enemy. I will pass judgment on you where all the nations can see it. 9 Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again. 10 (A)As a result, parents in Jerusalem will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will punish you and scatter in every direction any who are left alive.
11 “Therefore, as I am the living God—this is the word of the Sovereign Lord—because you defiled my Temple with all the evil, disgusting things you did, I will cut you down without mercy. 12 A third of your people will die from sickness and hunger in the city; a third will be cut down by swords outside the city; and I will scatter the last third to the winds and pursue them with a sword.
13 “You will feel all the force of my anger and rage until I am satisfied. When all this happens, you will be convinced that I, the Lord, have spoken to you because I am outraged at your unfaithfulness. 14 Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance.
15 “When I am angry and furious with you and punish you, all the nations around you will be terrified. They will look at you with disgust and make fun of you. 16 I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You[a] will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you. 17 (B)I will send hunger and wild animals to kill your children, and will send sickness, violence, and war to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 5:16 Probable text You; Hebrew They.
Ezekiel 5
English Standard Version
Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed
5 “And you, (A)O son of man, take a (B)sharp sword. Use it as (C)a barber's razor and (D)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 (E)A third part you shall burn in the fire (F)in the midst of the city, (G)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. (H)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and (I)I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 (J)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 (K)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: (L)This is Jerusalem. I have set her (M)in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness (N)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than (O)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are (P)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, (Q)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, (R)and have not[a] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, (S)am against you. (T)And I will execute judgments[b] in your midst (U)in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you (V)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore (W)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. (X)And I will execute judgments on you, (Y)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, (Z)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, (AA)because you have defiled my sanctuary (AB)with all your detestable things and with all your (AC)abominations, (AD)therefore I will withdraw.[c] (AE)My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 (AF)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; (AG)a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; (AH)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
13 (AI)“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that (AJ)I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—(AK)when I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you (AL)a desolation and (AM)an object of reproach among (AN)the nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be[d] a reproach and a taunt, a warning (AO)and a horror, to (AP)the nations all around you, (AQ)when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and (AR)with furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you[e] (AS)the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon (AT)you and break your supply[f] of bread. 17 I will send famine and (AU)wild beasts against you, (AV)and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and (AW)blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not
- Ezekiel 5:8 The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgments, depending on the context
- Ezekiel 5:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down
- Ezekiel 5:15 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Masoretic Text And it shall be
- Ezekiel 5:16 Hebrew them
- Ezekiel 5:16 Hebrew staff
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
