1And thou, son of man , take thee a sharp sword ; as a barber’s razor shalt thou take it unto thee , and shalt cause it to pass upon thy head and upon thy beard : then take thee balances to weigh , and divide the hair . 2A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city , when the days of the siege are fulfilled ; and thou shalt take a third part , and smite with the sword round about it ; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind , and I will draw out a sword after them . 3And thou shalt take thereof a few in number , and bind them in thy skirts . 4And of these again shalt thou take , and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel .
The Remnant and Their Fate
5Thus saith the Lord Jehovah : This is Jerusalem ; I have set her in the midst of the nations , and countries are round about her . 6And she hath rebelled against mine ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations , and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her ; for they have rejected mine ordinances , and as for my statutes , they have not walked in them . 7Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Because ye are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you , and have not walked in my statutes , neither have kept mine ordinances , neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you ; 8therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold , I , even I , am against thee ; and I will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations . 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 . 10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee , and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on thee ; and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds . 11Wherefore , as I live , saith the Lord Jehovah , 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 , and I also will have no pity . 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 a third part I will scatter unto all the winds , and will draw out a sword after them .
The Reason for Judgment
13Thus shall mine anger be accomplished , and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest , and I shall be comforted : and they shall know that I , Jehovah , have spoken in my zeal , when I have accomplished my wrath upon them . 14Moreover I will make thee a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee , in the sight of all that pass 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 on thee in anger and in wrath , and in wrathful rebukes ( I , Jehovah , have spoken it ); 16when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine , that are for destruction , which I will send to destroy you . And I will increase the famine upon you , and will break your staff of bread ; 17and I will 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 , Jehovah , have spoken it .