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

“As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it to cut the hair from your head and face. Then weigh and divide the hair.

2 T hou 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.

A third part you must burn in the fire in the center of the city, when the days of the battle are completed. Then take a third part and cut it up with your sword as you move around the city. And a third part you must throw to the wind. For I will pull out a sword behind them.

3 T hou shalt also take thereof a few in number and bind them in the skirt of thy garment.

Take a small number of the hairs and tie them in the cloth of your coat.

4 T hen 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.

Take some more of them and throw them into the fire, and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all the people of Israel.

5 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the Gentiles and of the lands that are round about her.

The Lord God says, ‘This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with lands around her.

6 A nd she has changed my judgments and my statutes into wickedness more than the Gentiles and more than the lands that are round about her; for they have disregarded my judgments and my commandments and have not walked in them.

But she has turned against My Laws worse than the nations and the lands around her. The people of Jerusalem have turned away from My Laws and have not obeyed them.’

7 T herefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because I multiplied you more than the Gentiles that are round about you, ye have not walked in my commandments, neither have ye kept my judgments. Ye have not even acted according to the judgments of the Gentiles that are round about you.

So the Lord God says, ‘You have been more sinful than the nations around you. You have not walked in My Laws or kept them. You have not even kept Laws like the nations around you have. Because you have acted this way,’

8 T herefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I, even I, am against thee and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the Gentiles.

the Lord God says, ‘I Myself am against you, and I will punish you in the eyes of the nations.

9 A nd 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.

Because of all the things you have done which I hate, I will do with you what I have never done before, and what I will never do again.

10 F or 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 I will scatter into all the winds.

Fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers. I will punish you and divide you, and spread to every wind those of you who are left.

11 T herefore, as I live, said the Lord GOD, surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy contaminations and with all thine abominations, therefore I will also destroy thee; neither shall my eye forgive, neither will I have mercy.

You have made My holy place unclean with all your hated objects of worship and sinful ways. So as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘for sure I will turn away from you. My eye will have no pity and I will punish all of you.

12 A third part of thee shall die of pestilence, and shall be consumed with famine 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.

One third of you will die by disease or be destroyed by hunger among you. A third will be killed by the sword around you. And a third I will spread to every wind, and go after them with a sword.

13 T hus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to cease in 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.

‘This is how My anger will stop. I will cause My anger to be upon them, and I will be comforted. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in My jealousy when I have sent My anger upon them.

14 A nd I will make thee a desert and a reproach among the Gentiles that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

I will make you a waste and a shame among the nations around you, in the eyes of all who pass by.

15 A nd thou shalt be a reproach and a dishonour, and a chastisement and a terror unto the Gentiles 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.

You will be a shame, and people will speak against you. You will show people the danger of sinning and fill the nations around you with fear, when I punish you in anger and with angry words. I, the Lord, have spoken.

16 W hen I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction and which I will send to destroy you, then I will increase the famine upon you and will destroy your sustenance of bread.

I will keep you from getting food. I will make your hunger worse, and take away the bread you need.

17 S o I will send upon you famine and evil beasts that will destroy thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I, the LORD, have spoken.

I will send hunger and wild animals against you, and they will take away your children. Disease and death will pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”