1. And thou, son of man, take a sharp knife, take a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard; then take 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 the skirt of thy garment.
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 hath the Lord GOD said: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the Gentiles and of the lands that are round about her.
6. And she has changed my judgments and my statutes into wickedness more than the Gentiles and more than the lands that are round about her; for they have disregarded my judgments and my commandments and have not walked in them.
7. Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Because I multiplied you more than the Gentiles that are round about you, ye have not walked in my commandments, neither have ye kept my judgments. Ye have not even acted according to the judgments of the Gentiles that are round about you.
8. Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I, even I, am against thee and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the Gentiles.
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.