Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, burning a third of the hair, striking a third with a sword and scattering a third. This shows what will happen to Jerusalem, which has been worse than the nations around it.
1 And 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.
2 Thou 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.
3 Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number , and bind them in thy skirts .
4 Then 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 .
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD ; This is Jerusalem : I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
6 And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations , and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes , they have not walked in them.
7 Therefore 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 my judgments , neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
8 Therefore 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 .
9 And 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 .
10 Therefore 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 .
11 Wherefore, 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 .
12 A 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.
13 Thus 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.
14 Moreover I will make thee waste , and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by .
15 So 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 in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes . I the LORD have spoken it.
16 When 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 :
17 So 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.