Ezekiel Dramatizes Jerusalem’s Fall

5 “Now you, son of man, take a sharp sword,^(A) use it as you would a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair. ² You are to burn a third of it in the city when the days of the siege have ended;^(B) you are to take a third and slash it with the sword all around the city; and you are to scatter a third to the wind, for I will draw a sword to chase after them. ³ But you are to take a few strands from the hair and secure them in the folds of your robe.^{(C) 4} Take some more of them, throw them into the fire, and burn them in it.^(D) A fire will spread from it to the whole house of Israel.