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Ezekiel Cuts His Hair

“Now, ·human [T son of man; 2:1], take a sharp sword, and use it like a barber’s razor to shave your head and beard. Then take scales and weigh and divide the hair. Burn one-third with fire ·in the middle of [inside] the city when the days of the ·attack on Jerusalem [L siege] are over. Then take one-third and cut it up with the ·knife [sword] all around the city. And scatter one-third to the wind. This is how I will chase them with ·a sword [unsheathed sword]. Also take a few of these hairs and ·tie [bind; tuck] them in the ·folds [edge] of your clothes. Take a few more and throw them into the fire and burn them up. From there a fire will spread to all the ·people [L house] of Israel.

“This is what the Lord God says: This is Jerusalem. I have put her at the center of the nations with countries all around her. But she has ·refused to obey [rebelled against] my ·laws [judgments] and has been more ·evil [wicked] than the nations. She has refused to ·obey [L walk in] my ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements], even more than ·nations [lands] around her. The people of Jerusalem have rejected my ·laws [judgments] and have not ·lived by [L walked in] my ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements].

“So this is what the Lord God says: You have ·caused more trouble [been more insubordinate/arrogant] than the nations around you. You have not followed my ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] or obeyed my ·laws [judgments]. You have not even obeyed the ·laws [judgments] of the nations around you.

“So this is what the Lord God says: [L Look; T Behold] I myself am against you, and I will ·punish you [L execute judgments in your midst] ·as the nations watch [in the sight of the nations]. I will do things ·among [to] you that I have not done before and that I will never do anything like again, because ·you do the things I hate [of your detestable practices/or idols]. 10 So ·parents [fathers] among you will eat their ·children [sons], and ·children [sons] will eat their ·parents [fathers; C because of horrific starvation during the siege; Deut. 28:53–57; Jer. 19:9; Lam. 4:10]. I will ·punish you [execute judgments] and will scatter to the winds all ·who are left alive [the survivors]. 11 So the Lord God says: You have ·made my Temple unclean [defiled my sanctuary] with all your ·evil idols [abominations] and ·the hateful things you do [your detestable practices/or idols]. Because of this, as surely as I live, I will ·cut you off [or shave you; C a humiliation]. ·I will have [L My eye will show] no pity, and I will show no mercy. 12 A third of you will die by ·disease [plague; pestilence] or be ·destroyed [overcome; consumed] by ·hunger [famine] inside your walls. A third will fall dead by the sword ·outside your walls [all around]. And a third I will scatter in every direction as I chase them with a ·sword [L drawn/unsheathed sword]. 13 Then my anger will ·come to an end [be finished]. ·I will use it up against them […and my wrath will cease], and then I will be ·satisfied [calmed; appeased]. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken. After I have carried out my ·anger [wrath] against them, they will know ·how strongly I felt [my zeal/jealousy].

14 “I will make you a ruin and a ·shame [reproach; object of mockery] among the nations around you, ·to be seen by [L in the eyes of] all who pass by. 15 Then you will be ·shamed [a reproach/object of mockery] and ·made fun of [taunted] by the nations around. You will be a warning and a ·terror [horror] to them. This will happen when I ·punish [execute judgments against] you in my ·great anger [L anger, wrath, and furious rebukes]. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 I will ·send a time of hunger [L shoot deadly and destructive arrows of famine] to destroy you, and then I will make your ·hunger [famine] get even worse, and I will cut off your supply of food. 17 I will send a time of hunger and wild animals against you, and they will ·kill your children [L bereave you]. ·Disease [Plague; Pestilence] and death will sweep through your people, and I will bring the sword against you to kill you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

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