1. You, human one, take a sharp sword. Use it like a razor and shave your head and beard. Then use scales to divide the hair.
2. At the end of the siege, burn one-third of it in the city. Strike another third with the sword left and right. Then scatter one-third to the wind and let loose the sword after it.
3. From that third, take a few strands and hide them in your garment.
4. From that hair, take yet another batch and throw it into the fire and burn it up. From there, fire will spread to the whole house of Israel.
5. The Lord God proclaims: This is Jerusalem! I have set her in the middle of the nations and surrounding countries.
6. But she rebelled against my case laws and my regulations with greater treachery than these nations and surrounding countries, who also rejected my case laws and didn’t follow my regulations.
7. Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: You have become more turbulent than these nations around you because you haven’t obeyed my regulations or followed my case laws. You haven’t even followed the case laws of the nations around you!
8. So now the Lord God proclaims: I myself am now against you! I will impose the case law penalties on you in the sight of the nations.
9. Because of you, I will do what I’ve never done before and will never do again—all because of your detestable practices.
10. Therefore, parents among you will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will impose penalties from case laws on you and scatter all that is left of you to the winds.