Ezekiel 5:2 kjv
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.
Ezekiel 5:2 nkjv
You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them.
Ezekiel 5:2 niv
When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.
Ezekiel 5:2 esv
A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them.
Ezekiel 5:2 nlt
Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After acting out the siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and chop it with a sword. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will scatter my people with the sword.
Ezekiel 5 2 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel 5:2 | "A third you shall burn in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege have been fulfilled. | Judgment, destruction, fire, siege |
| Ezekiel 5:3 | And a third you shall strike with the sword all around it. | Judgment, destruction, sword, surrounding |
| Ezekiel 5:4 | And a third you shall scatter to all the winds; | Judgment, destruction, scattering, wind |
| Leviticus 26:25 | "And I will bring a sword against you that executes vengeance for the covenant. | Divine punishment, sword, covenant violation |
| Deuteronomy 28:22 | "The LORD will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat. | Divine punishment, plagues, fire |
| Deuteronomy 28:25 | "The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one against them. | Divine punishment, defeat, enemies |
| Deuteronomy 28:64 | "And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other. | Divine punishment, scattering, nations |
| Jeremiah 15:2 | "And if they say, 'Where shall we go?' then you shall say to them, 'Thus says the LORD: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword. | Fate of survivors, death, sword |
| Jeremiah 24:10 | "And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence among them, till they perish from the land. | Divine judgment, sword, famine, pestilence |
| Jeremiah 29:17 | "Thus says the LORD of hosts: Behold, I am sending famine and pestilence among them. | Divine judgment, famine, pestilence |
| Jeremiah 44:14 | "So shall no one escape or remain alive of the remnant of Judah who have come to settle in the land of Egypt. | Survivors' fate, no escape |
| Jeremiah 52:15 | Then Jeremiah said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'As for these people who have surrendered this city to the king of Babylon, I will take action against them... | Divine judgment against those who surrender |
| Amos 3:11 | "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'An adversary is all around the land. | Divine judgment, adversary surrounding |
| Amos 4:2 | "The Lord GOD has sworn by his holiness, that, behold, the days are coming upon you when he shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks. | Divine judgment, capture, dispersal |
| Amos 4:6 | "Yet I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and barrenness of ground in all your towns. | Divine discipline, unfruitfulness |
| Amos 4:8 | "You shall still be gleaned in Samaria as a fig is gleaned in the sight of a man who gathers figs. | Divine judgment, remnant left |
| Amos 4:10 | "I sent plagues upon you as in Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword along with the capture of your horses. | Divine judgment, plagues, sword |
| Hosea 5:12 | "For I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah. | Divine judgment, decay, destruction |
| Hosea 7:13 | "Woe to them, for they have strayed from me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me! | Consequences of straying, rebellion |
| Zechariah 7:13 | "Just as I called, and they did not listen, so they called, and I did not listen, says the LORD of hosts. | Consequences of disobedience, unanswered prayer |
| Matthew 24:11 | "And many false prophets will rise and lead many astray. | False prophets, leading astray |
| Luke 19:43 | "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. | Siege, enemies surrounding |
| Revelation 6:8 | And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. | Death, destruction, pestilence |
| Revelation 13:7 | Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. | Persecution by enemies |
| Revelation 18:8 | Therefore her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine. | Judgment, plagues, death, famine |
Ezekiel 5 verses
Ezekiel 5 2 Meaning
The verse describes a divine judgment where a third of Jerusalem's inhabitants will be struck by plague or famine within its walls, and another third will be cut down by their enemies outside the city, with the remaining third scattered to the wind. This signifies total destruction and dispersal as a consequence of their disobedience and idolatry.
Ezekiel 5 2 Context
Ezekiel 5 is part of a larger prophecy concerning the judgment of Jerusalem and its inhabitants due to their extreme idolatry and rejection of God's covenant. God uses extreme actions and symbols to convey the severity of the coming destruction. The verse uses a symbolic method of dividing a hair-shaving to represent the divinely ordained fate of the people: plague and famine within the besieged city, death by the sword of their enemies surrounding them, and scattering to the winds among the nations. This division emphasizes the totality of the destruction.
Ezekiel 5 2 Word analysis
- "And": Conjunction connecting the preceding imagery of the hair to the specific judgment.
- "a third": Denotes one-third of the population, indicating a systematic and divinely ordained distribution of judgment.
- "you": Refers directly to the people of Jerusalem, specifically those within the city's walls.
- "shall burn": A future perfect tense indicating a certainty of future action, in this context, the suffering and death caused by internal conditions like famine and plague.
- "in the midst": Within the confines of the city, signifying inescapable suffering from within.
- "of the city": Refers to Jerusalem.
- "when": Indicates the time frame for this specific judgment.
- "the days": Refers to the duration of the siege.
- "of the siege": The period of being surrounded and attacked by an enemy army.
- "have been fulfilled": Signifies the completion of the predetermined time for the siege.
- "And": Connects to the next aspect of the judgment.
- "a third": Another segment of the population.
- "you": Again, referring to the people, this time those outside the city.
- "shall strike": To smite, to kill, indicating violent death.
- "with the sword": The weapon of war used by the external enemy.
- "all around it": Signifies death by the enemy's army that surrounds the city.
- "And": Continues to delineate the final part of the judgment.
- "a third": The remaining segment of the population.
- "you": The people.
- "shall scatter": To disperse, to drive away, to be exiled.
- "to all": Pertaining to every direction.
- "the winds": Representing the nations and distant places to which they will be dispersed.
Words-group by words-group analysis
- "a third you shall burn in the midst of the city": This refers to the fate of those within Jerusalem during the siege. The "burning" metaphorically represents death by famine, pestilence, or other intense suffering within the city's boundaries as conditions become unbearable.
- "when the days of the siege have been fulfilled": This establishes the timing of this specific part of the judgment, linked directly to the successful completion of the enemy's siege.
- "And a third you shall strike with the sword all around it": This segment describes the fate of those attempting to escape or those caught outside the city's immediate protection, falling victim to the attacking forces surrounding Jerusalem.
- "And a third you shall scatter to all the winds": This final segment signifies exile. The scattered individuals will be dispersed among all nations, meaning they will not return to their land in a cohesive group and will be spread far and wide.
Ezekiel 5 2 Bonus section
The imagery of scattering to the winds is a recurring motif in the Old Testament, signifying complete dispersion and loss of homeland, often as a consequence of disobedience to the covenant. This judgment, as described by Ezekiel, reflects the devastating impact of divine discipline on a national scale. It serves as a warning that turning away from God incurs severe consequences, not just for individuals but for entire communities. The deliberate division by threes underlines the certainty and totality of the impending calamity.
Ezekiel 5 2 Commentary
This verse paints a stark picture of the totality of God's judgment upon a disobedient people. The division into thirds emphasizes that no portion of the population would escape the severe consequences of their apostasy. The mechanisms of judgment—plague/famine within, the sword without, and scattering among nations—cover every possible scenario, leaving no hope of survival within their homeland. This is a demonstration of divine wrath for covenant unfaithfulness, highlighting that God's judgment is comprehensive and inescapable when His people turn away from Him.