Ezekiel 5

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 kept speaking to Ezekiel, a prophet who told people what God said. "Son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it like a barber's razor. Shave the hair off your head and your face. Then get a scale and weigh the hair. Divide it into three equal piles."

Note"Son of man" is what God calls Ezekiel all through this book. It simply means a human being.

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.

2"Burn one pile in the middle of the city. Do this when the days of the siege are over. A siege is when an army circles a city so no one can get out. Take a second pile and chop at it with the sword all around the city. Throw the third pile into the wind. I will send a sword to chase after them."

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

3"But keep back a few of the hairs. Tuck them safely into the folds of your coat."

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.

4"Then take some of those few hairs. 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 hair stands for Jerusalem. I placed that city in the middle of the nations. Other countries lie 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.

6"But she turned against my rules worse than those nations did. She broke my laws worse than the countries near her. Her people said no to my rules. They 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 the Lord GOD says this. "You have been more unruly than the nations around you. You did not live by my laws. You did not keep my rules. You did not even follow the rules that the nations near you keep."

NoteThe old wording says the people "multiplied." That does not mean there were more of them. It means they broke rules more than the nations around them did.

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 the Lord GOD says this. "Look. I myself am against you, Jerusalem. I will punish you right in your own streets, while the nations 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.

9"Because of all your disgusting idols, I will do something to you I have never done. And I will never do such a thing 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.

10"Inside the city, fathers will eat their sons. Sons will eat their fathers. I will punish you. I will scatter everyone who is left 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, this will happen. You made my holy house dirty with your disgusting idols. So I will pull my care away from you. I will not look at you with pity. I will not spare you."

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.

12"A third of your people will die of a deadly sickness inside the city. Hunger will finish off others there. A third will be killed by swords outside your walls. A third I will scatter to every wind. I will send a sword to chase after them."

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.

13"Then my anger will be finished. I will have poured all of it out on them. Then I will be satisfied. They will know that I, the LORD, spoke this with strong, burning feeling."

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.

14"I will turn you into a pile of ruins. The nations around you will look down on you. Everyone who walks past will see it."

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.

15"You will be shamed and laughed at. You will be a warning and a scare to the nations around you. This will happen when I punish you in anger and hot rage. 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:

16"I will shoot the deadly arrows of hunger at you. They are sent to destroy you. I will make the hunger worse and worse. I will cut off your supply of bread."

Note"Break your staff of bread" is an old way of speaking. Bread was what people leaned on, like a walking stick. It means their food supply would be cut off.

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.

17"I will send hunger and wild animals against you. They will leave you with no children. Deadly sickness and killing will sweep through you. I will bring war against you. I, the LORD, have spoken."