Ezekiel 5

1 And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp sword, [or (a) razor,] (for) shaving hairs; and thou shalt take it, and shalt lead it by thine head, and by thy beard. And thou shalt take to thee a balance of weight(s), and thou shalt part those. (And thou, son of man, get thee a sharp razor for shaving hair; and thou shalt take it, and shalt lead it over thy head, and over thy beard. And thou shalt get thee a balance of weights, and thou shalt separate, or divide, that hair.)
2 Thou shalt burn the third part with fire in the midst of the city, by the [ful]filling of days of besieging. And thou shalt take the third part, and shalt cut (it) by sword in the compass thereof. But thou shalt scatter the tother third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword after them. (Thou shalt burn a third part of it with fire in the midst of the city, at the fulfilling, or at the end, of the days of the besieging. And thou shalt take another third part, and shalt cut it by the sword all around the city. And thou shalt scatter the other third part into the wind; and I shall make naked a sword to go after that hair.)
3 And thou shalt take thereof a little number (of those hairs), and thou shalt bind those in the highness of thy mantle.
4 And again thou shalt take of them, and thou shalt cast forth them into the midst of the fire (and thou shalt throw them forth into the midst of the fire). And thou shalt burn them in (the) fire; and (the) fire shall go out of that into all the house of Israel.
5 The Lord God saith these things, This is Jerusalem; I have set it in the midst of heathen men, and lands in the compass thereof. (The Lord God saith these things, This is Jerusalem; I have set it in the midst of the heathen, and the other lands all around it.)
6 And it despised my dooms, that it was more wicked than heathen men; and it despised my commandments more than lands that be in the compass thereof. For they have cast away my dooms, and they went not in my commandments. (And it despised my laws, or my judgements, so that it was more wicked than the heathen; and it despised my commandments more than the lands that be all around it. For they have throw away my laws, or my judgements, and they did not obey my commandments.)
7 Therefore the Lord God saith these things, For ye have passed heathen men that be in your compass, and ye went not in my commandments, and ye did not my dooms, and ye wrought not by the dooms of heathen men that be in your compass; (And so the Lord God saith these things, For ye have surpassed the heathen who be all around you, and ye did not obey my commandments, and ye did not follow my laws, and ye did not even follow the laws of the heathen who be all around you;)
8 therefore the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I to thee, and I myself shall make dooms in the midst of thee, before the eyes of heathen men; (and so the Lord God saith these things, Lo! I am against thee, and I myself shall bring in judgements in the midst of thee, before the eyes of the heathen;)
9 and I shall do things in thee which I did not, and to which I shall no more make like things, for all thine abominations. (and I shall do things in thee which I have not done before, and which I shall never do again, for all thy abominations.)
10 Therefore fathers shall eat (their) sons in the midst of thee, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I shall make dooms in thee (and I shall bring in judgements upon thee), and I shall winnow all thine remnants into each wind;
11 Therefore (as) I live, saith the Lord God, no but for that that thou defouledest mine holy thing in all thine offences, and in all thine abominations; and I shall break, and mine eye shall not spare, and I shall not do mercy. (And so as I live, saith the Lord God, because thou hast defiled my holy place with all thy offences, and with all thy abominations, I shall break thee, and my eye shall not spare thee, and I shall not have any mercy on thee.)
12 The third part of thee shall die by pestilence, and shall be wasted by hunger in the midst of thee; and the third part of thee shall fall down by sword in thy compass; forsooth I shall scatter thy third part into each wind, and I shall draw out a sword after them. (A third part of thee shall die by pestilence, and shall be wasted by famine in the midst of thee; and a third part of thee shall fall down by the sword all around thee; and I shall scatter a third part of thee into each wind, and then I shall draw out a sword to go after them.)
13 And I shall [ful]fill my strong vengeance, and I shall make mine indignation to rest in them, and I shall be comforted. And they shall know, that I the Lord spake in my fervent love, when I shall [ful]fill all mine indignation in them. (And I shall fulfill my strong vengeance, and I shall make my indignation to rest upon them, and then I shall be comforted, or shall be satisfied. And they shall know, that I the Lord spoke in my jealous anger, when I shall fulfill all my indignation upon them.)
14 And I shall give thee into desert, [and] into shame to heathen men that be in thy compass, in the sight of each that passeth forth. (And I shall make thee into desolation, and into shame to the heathen who be all around thee, and before each person who passeth by.)
15 And thou shalt be shame and blasphemy, ensample and wondering, among heathen men that be in thy compass, when I shall make dooms in thee, in strong vengeance, and indignation, and in blamings of ire. I the Lord have spoken, (And thou shalt be shame and blasphemy, and example and wondering, among the heathen who be all around thee, when I shall bring in judgements, or pass sentence, upon thee, in strong vengeance, and indignation, and in blamings of anger. I the Lord have spoken,)
16 when I shall send into them the worst arrows of hunger, that shall bear death; and which I shall send, that I lose you (when I shall send into you the worst arrows of famine, that shall carry death; and which I shall send, so that I destroy you). And I shall gather hunger [up]on you, and I shall all-break in you the firmness of bread.
17 And I shall send into you hunger, and worst beasts, till to the death; and pestilence and blood shall pass by thee, and I shall bring in [a] sword on thee; I the Lord spake. (And so I shall send into you famine, and evil, or wild, beasts, unto the death; and pestilence and blood, or slaughter, shall pass through thee, and I shall bring in a sword upon thee; I the Lord spoke.)

Ezekiel 5 Commentaries

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.