Ezekiel

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.

1God said: Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. Shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales, weigh the hair, and divide it up.

2Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.

2When the days of the siege are over, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take another third and strike it with the sword all around the city. Scatter the last third to the wind. I will chase after those people with a drawn sword.

3Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

3But take a few strands of the hair and tuck them into the folds of your robe.

Note"Skirts" in the old English means the loose folds of a long robe, used like a pocket. It does not mean a skirt as we use the word today.

4Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

4Then take a few of even those, throw them into the fire, and burn them up. From there a fire will spread out to all the people of Israel.

5Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

5This is what the Lord GOD says: This is Jerusalem. I placed her in the center of the nations, with other countries all around her.

6And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

6But she turned against my rules and did more evil than the nations. She broke my laws worse than the countries around her. Her people rejected my rules and would not live by them.

7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;

7So this is what the Lord GOD says: You have been more stubborn and rebellious than the nations around you. You have not kept my laws or my rules. You have not even followed the customs of the nations around you.

8Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.

8So this is what the Lord GOD says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem. I will punish you right here among you, where all the nations can watch.

9And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.

9Because of all the disgusting things you have done, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.

10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.

10Fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will punish you, and everyone left alive I will scatter to every wind.

11Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.

11The Lord GOD says: As surely as I live, you have made my temple filthy with all your vile idols and disgusting deeds. So I will pull back from you. I will not look at you with pity, and I will not spare you.

Note"I will diminish thee" means God will pull back from Jerusalem and stop protecting her. It is not about making the city smaller.

12A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.

12A third of your people will die of disease or starve to death inside the city. A third will fall by the sword outside your walls. A third I will scatter to every wind, and chase after with a drawn sword.

13Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

13Then my anger will be finished. My fury will be spent on them, and I will be satisfied. When my fury is done, they will know that I, the LORD, spoke with fierce passion.

Note"I will be comforted" here means God's anger will be satisfied and finished. It does not mean he is being cheered up.

14Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

14I will turn you into a ruin and a shame among the nations around you, in full view of everyone who passes by.

15So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.

15You will be an insult and a joke, a warning and a horror to the nations around you, when I punish you in anger and fury and furious scolding. I, the LORD, have spoken.

16When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:

16I will shoot at you the deadly arrows of hunger, arrows sent to destroy you. I will make the hunger worse and cut off your supply of food.

NoteTo "break your staff of bread" is an old way of saying a food supply is cut off. Bread held people up the way a walking stick holds up a traveler.

17So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

17I will send hunger and wild animals against you, and they will leave you with no children. Disease and killing will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the LORD, have spoken.