People of Jerusalem Scattered

5 “Son of man,^[a] after your famine^[b] you must do this: Take a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor. Shave off your hair and beard. Put the hair on a scale and weigh it. Separate it into three equal parts. Put a third of your hair on the brick that has the picture of the city on it. Burn that hair in that ‘city.’ Then use the sword and cut a third of your hair into small pieces all around the outside of the ‘city.’ Next, throw a third of your hair into the air and let the wind blow it away. This will show that I will pull out my sword and chase some of the people into faraway countries. ³ But then you must get a few of those hairs and wrap them up in your robe. ⁴ Take some of those hairs and throw them into the fire. This will show that a fire will start there and burn throughout the whole house of Israel.^[c]”

⁵ Then the Lord God said to me, “The brick is a picture of Jerusalem. I put Jerusalem in the middle of other nations with countries all around her. ⁶ The people rebelled against my commands. They were worse than any of the other nations! They broke more of my laws than any of the people in the countries around them. They refused to listen to my commands. They did not obey my laws.”

⁷ So the Lord God says, “I will do this because you did not obey my laws and commands. You broke more of my laws than the people who lived around you, and you did what even they know is wrong!” ⁸ So the Lord God says, “So now, even I am against you! I will punish you while those other people watch. ⁹ I will do things to you that I have never done before. And I will never do those terrible things again, because you did so many terrible things. ¹⁰ People in Jerusalem will be so hungry that parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their own parents. I will punish you in many ways, and those who are left alive, I will scatter to the winds.”

¹¹ The Lord God says, “Jerusalem, I promise by my life that I will punish you! I promise that I will punish you, because you did terrible things to my Holy Place. You did horrible things that made it dirty. I will punish you. I will not show any mercy or feel sorry for you. ¹² A third of your people will die inside the city from diseases and hunger. Another third will die in battle outside the city. And then I will pull out my sword and chase the last third of your people into faraway countries. ¹³ Only then will I stop being angry with your people. I will know that they have been punished for the bad things they did to me. They will know that I am the Lord and that I spoke to them because of my strong love^[d] for them!”

¹⁴ God said, “Jerusalem, I will destroy you—you will be nothing but a pile of rocks. The people around you will make fun of you. Everyone who walks by will make fun of you. ¹⁵ People around you will make fun of you, but you will also be a lesson for them. They will see that I was angry and punished you. I was very angry and I warned you. I, the Lord, told you what I would do. ¹⁶ I told you I would send you terrible times of hunger. I told you I would send you things that would destroy you. I told you that I would take away your supply of food and that those times of hunger would come again and again. ¹⁷ I told you I would send hunger and wild animals against you that would kill your children. I told you there would be disease and death everywhere in the city. I told you I would bring enemy soldiers to fight against you. I, the Lord, told you all these things would happen!”

Prophecies Against Israel

6 Then the word of the Lord came to me again. ² He said, “Son of man,^[e] turn toward the mountains of Israel and speak against them for me. ³ Tell them this: ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to this message from the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the hills and mountains and to the ravines and valleys: Look! I am bringing the enemy to fight against you. I will destroy your high places. ⁴ Your altars will be broken into pieces. Your incense altars will be smashed, and I will throw down your dead bodies in front of your filthy idols. ⁵ I will put the dead bodies of the people of Israel in front of their filthy idols. I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ Bad things will happen wherever your people live. Their cities will become piles of rock. Their high places will be destroyed so that those places of worship will never be used again. The altars will all be destroyed. People will never worship those filthy idols again. The incense altars will be smashed. Everything you made will be destroyed completely. ⁷ Your people will be killed, and then you will know that I am the Lord!’”

⁸ God said, “But I will let a few of your people escape. They will live in other countries for a short time. I will scatter them and force them to live in other countries. ⁹ Then the survivors will be taken as prisoners. They will be forced to live in other countries, but they will remember me. I broke their spirit.^[f] They will hate themselves for the evil things they did. In the past, they turned away from me and left me. They chased after their filthy idols. They were like a woman leaving her husband and running off with another man. They did many terrible things, ¹⁰ but they will learn that I am the Lord. Then they will know that if I say that I will do something, I will do it! They will know that I caused all the troubles that happened to them.”

¹¹ Then the Lord God said to me, “Clap your hands and stamp your feet. Speak against all the terrible things that the people of Israel have done. Warn them that they will be killed by disease and hunger. Tell them they will be killed in war. ¹² People far away will die from disease. People near this place will be killed with swords, and those who are left in the city will starve to death. Only then will I stop being angry. ¹³ Only then will you know that I am the Lord. You will know this when you see your dead bodies in front of your filthy idols and around their altars. Those bodies will be near every one of your places for worship,^[g] on every high hill and mountain, under every green tree and every oak tree with leaves. You offered your sacrifices everywhere. They were a sweet smell for your filthy idols. ¹⁴ But I will raise my arm over you and punish you and your people, wherever they live! I will destroy your country! It will be completely empty from the desert in the south to Riblah^[h] in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”

Disaster Is Coming to Jerusalem

7 Then the word of the Lord came to me. ² He said, “Now, son of man, here is a message from the Lord God. This message is for the land of Israel:

⁵ This is what the Lord God said: “There will be one disaster after another! ⁶ The end is coming, and it will come quickly! ⁷ You people living in Israel, disaster is coming. It is time for punishment. Those are not shouts of joy in the mountains. Those are cries of panic. ⁸ Very soon now, I will show you how angry I am. I will show all of my anger against you. I will punish you for the evil things you did. I will make you pay for all the terrible things you did. ⁹ I will not show you any mercy or feel sorry for you. I am punishing you for the evil things you did. You have done such terrible things. Now, you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “That time of punishment has come like a plant sprouting, budding, and flowering. God has given the signal, the enemy is prepared, and their proud king is ready. ¹¹ This violent man is ready to punish the evil people. There are many people in Israel—but he is not one of them. He is not a person in that crowd. He is not some important leader from them.

¹² “The time of punishment has come. The day is here. Those who buy things will not be happy, and those who sell things will not feel bad about selling them because that terrible punishment will happen to everyone. ¹³ The people who sold their property^[i] will never go back to it. Even if some people escape alive, they will never go back to their property, because this vision is for the whole crowd. So even if some people escape alive, it will not make everyone feel better.

¹⁴ “They will blow the trumpet to warn the people. The people will get ready for battle, but they will not go out to fight because I will show the whole crowd how angry I am. ¹⁵ The enemy with his sword is outside the city. Disease and hunger is inside the city. If some people go out into the fields, enemy soldiers will kill them. If they stay in the city, hunger and disease will destroy them.

¹⁶ “But some people will escape. The survivors will run to the mountains, but they will not be happy. They will be sad for all their sins. They will cry and make sad noises like doves. ¹⁷ They will be too tired and sad to raise their arms. Their legs will be like water. ¹⁸ They will wear sackcloth and be covered with fear. You will see the shame on every face. They will shave their heads to show their sadness. ¹⁹ They will throw their silver idols into the streets. They will treat their gold statues like dirty rags, because those things will not be able to save them when the Lord shows his anger. Those things were nothing but a trap that caused the people to fall. They will not give food to the people or put food in their bellies.

²⁰ “They used their beautiful jewelry and made an idol. They were proud of that statue. They made their terrible statues. They made those filthy things, so I will throw them away like a dirty rag. ²¹ I will let strangers take them. Those strangers will make fun of them. They will kill some of the people and take others away as prisoners. ²² I will turn my head away from them—I will not look at them. The strangers will ruin my Temple—they will go into the secret parts of that holy building and make it unfit for worship.

²³ “Make chains for the prisoners, because many people will be punished for killing other people. There will be violence every place in the city. ²⁴ I will bring evil people from other nations, and they will get all the houses of the people of Israel. I will stop all you powerful people from being so proud. Those people from other nations will get all your places of worship.

²⁵ “You will shake with fear. You will look for peace, but there will be none. ²⁶ You will hear one sad story after another. You will hear nothing but bad news. You will look for a prophet and ask him for a vision. The priests will have nothing to teach you, and the elders will not have any good advice to give you. ²⁷ Your king will be crying for the people who died. The leaders will wear sackcloth. The common people will be very afraid, because I will pay them back for what they did. I will decide their punishment, and I will punish them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”