1And 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. 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 round about it with a sword {knife}; and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. 3Thou shalt also take of them {thereof} a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. 4Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for from them {thereof} shall a fire come forth into all the house 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. 6And she hath changed Mine ordinances {my judgments} into wickedness more than the nations, and My statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have refused Mine {my} ordinances {judgments} and My statutes, they have not walked in 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 Mine ordinances {my judgments}, neither have done according to the ordinances {judgments} of the nations that are round about you; 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. 9And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and the like of which {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 in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds. 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. 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. 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. 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. 15So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an horror {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. 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; 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.