1-2. “Son of man, after your famine 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.”
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.