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Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

“And you, (A)O son of man, take a (B)sharp sword. Use it as (C)a barber's razor and (D)pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. (E)A third part you shall burn in the fire (F)in the midst of the city, (G)when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all round the city. (H)And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and (I)I will unsheathe the sword after them. (J)And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. (K)And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

“Thus says the Lord God: (L)This is Jerusalem. I have set her (M)in the centre of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness (N)more than the nations, and against my statutes more than (O)the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are (P)more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, (Q)and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, (R)and have not[a] even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, (S)am against you. (T)And I will execute judgements[b] in your midst (U)in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you (V)what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore (W)fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. (X)And I will execute judgements on you, (Y)and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, (Z)as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, (AA)because you have defiled my sanctuary (AB)with all your detestable things and with all your (AC)abominations, (AD)therefore I will withdraw.[c] (AE)My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 (AF)A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; (AG)a third part shall fall by the sword all round you; (AH)and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 5:7 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not
  2. Ezekiel 5:8 The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgements, depending on the context
  3. Ezekiel 5:11 Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down