5Ezekiel 5

Ezekiel Cuts His Hair

1The 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.Select Ezekiel 5:1

2Burn 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.Select Ezekiel 5:2

3Keep back a few hairs and wrap them in the hem of your clothes.Select Ezekiel 5:3

4Then 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.”Select Ezekiel 5:4

5The Sovereign Lord said, “Look at Jerusalem. I put her at the center of the world, with other countries all around her.Select Ezekiel 5:5

6But 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.Select Ezekiel 5:6

7Now 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.Select Ezekiel 5:7

8And 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.Select Ezekiel 5:8

9Because of all the things you do that I hate, I will punish Jerusalem as I have never done before and will never do again.Select Ezekiel 5:9

10As 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.Select Ezekiel 5:10

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.Select Ezekiel 5:11

12A 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.Select Ezekiel 5:12

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.Select Ezekiel 5:13

14Everyone from the nations around you who passes by will sneer at you and keep their distance.Select Ezekiel 5:14

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.Select Ezekiel 5:15

16I will cut off your supply of food and let you starve. You will feel the pains of hunger like sharp arrows sent to destroy you.Select Ezekiel 5:16

17I 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.”Select Ezekiel 5:17