New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Ezekiel 5
1
"Son of man, get a sharp sword. Use it as a barber's razor. Shave your head and beard with it. Then get a set of scales and weigh the hair. Separate it into three piles.
Reference
2
"Burn up a third of the hair inside the city. Do it when you stop attacking the model of Jerusalem. Next, get another third of the hair. Strike it with a sword all around the city. Then scatter the last third to the winds. That is because I will chase the people with a sword that is ready to strike them down.
Reference
4
"Next, get a few more hairs. Throw them into the fire. Burn them up. The fire will spread to all of the people of Israel."
5
The Lord and King says, "This little model stands for Jerusalem. I have placed that city in the center of the nations. Countries are all around it.
Reference
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 4:6
References God
Ezekiel 16:14
References Jerusalem
Ezekiel 4:1
References Lord
Jeremiah 6:6
6
But its people are sinful. They have refused to obey my laws and rules. They have turned their backs on my laws. They have not followed my rules. Those people are worse than the nations and countries around them."
Reference
7
The Lord and King continues, "You people have been worse than the nations around you. You have not lived by my rules or kept my laws. You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you."
Reference
References Lord
2 Chronicles 33:9
8
The Lord and King continues, "Jerusalem, I myself am against you. I will punish you in the sight of the nations.
Reference
Judgment
Jeremiah 21:5
Parallel theme
Jeremiah 24:9
References Lord
Ezekiel 15:7
Jeremiah 21:13
Ezekiel 21:3
9
I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. That is because you worship statues of gods. I hate them.
Reference
10
So parents will eat their own children inside the city. And children will eat their parents. I will punish you. And I will scatter to the winds anyone who is left alive.
Reference
11
"You have made my temple 'unclean.' You have set up statues of all of your evil gods. You have done other things I hate. So I will not show you my favor anymore. I will not spare you or feel sorry for you. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the Lord and King.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 7:20
Ezekiel 11:18
Jeremiah 16:18
Ezekiel 9:10
Ezekiel 9:5
Ezekiel 8:18
References Lord
Ezekiel 7:4
Ezekiel 7:9
2 Chronicles 36:14
Temple
Ezekiel 8:16
12
"A third of your people will die of the plague inside your walls. Or they will die of hunger there. Another third will be killed with swords outside your walls. And I will scatter the last third of your people to the winds. I will chase them with a sword that is ready to strike them down.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 5:10
Word
Ezekiel 5:2
Jeremiah 15:2
Jeremiah 21:9
Ezekiel 12:14
Jeremiah 44:27
13
"Then I will not be angry anymore. My burning anger against them will die down. And I will be satisfied. Then they will know that I have spoken with strong feelings. And my burning anger toward them will come to an end. I am the Lord.
Reference
Parallel theme
Isaiah 59:17
Ezekiel 6:12
Ezekiel 20:21
Ezekiel 7:8
Ezekiel 20:8
References Lord
Isaiah 1:24
Ezekiel 21:17
Lamentations 4:11
14
"I will destroy you. I will bring shame on you in the sight of the nations that are around you. All those who pass by will see it.
Reference
15
You will be put to shame. The nations will make fun of you. You will serve as a warning to others. They will be shocked when they see you. So I will punish you because my anger burns against you. You will feel the sting of my warning. I have spoken. I am the Lord.
Reference
16
"I will shoot at you with my deadly, destroying arrows of hunger. I will shoot to kill. I will bring more and more hunger on you. I will cut off your food supply.
Reference
Parallel theme
Ezekiel 4:16
17
I will send hunger and wild animals against you. They will destroy all of your children. Plague and murder will sweep over you. And I will send swords to kill you. I have spoken. I am the Lord."
Reference
Blood
Ezekiel 38:22
Parallel theme
Deuteronomy 32:24
Ezekiel 14:15
Leviticus 26:22
References Lord
2 Kings 17:25
Word
Ezekiel 14:21
Ezekiel 33:27
Summary of Ezekiel 5
Ezekiel 5 continues the dramatic symbolic actions of Ezekiel 4 by using Ezekiel's own hair as a representation of Jerusalem's population, showing through shaving, weighing, dividing, burning, striking, and scattering the hair that the people of Jerusalem will experience different forms of judgment, including famine, violence, death, and exile, while the small portion preserved near the prophet's garment points toward the existence of a remnant that will survive even after the city's destruction.
The chapter begins with God commanding Ezekiel to shave his head and beard with a sword. Because Ezekiel was a priest, this was an especially striking action, since hair and appearance could carry social and religious significance. The unusual command was intended to attract attention and communicate that something extraordinary was about to happen to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel then weighs the hair and divides it into different portions.
One portion is burned.
Another is struck with the sword.
The remaining portion is scattered into the wind.
These actions represent the different experiences awaiting Jerusalem's inhabitants. Some will die from famine and disease, others will die through war and violence, and others will be scattered into foreign lands through exile.
The symbolism becomes especially clear later in the chapter when God explains that one-third will die from plague or famine, another third will fall by the sword around Jerusalem, and the final third will be scattered among the nations.
This means the hair is not merely a symbol of Jerusalem itself but represents the people of the city and the different ways the population will be affected by the coming catastrophe.
Yet Ezekiel is instructed to preserve a small amount of hair.
He wraps it into the edge of his garment.
This small remnant introduces an important element of hope into an otherwise devastating prophecy. God is not saying that every person will disappear. Even after judgment, some will remain.
However, even this remnant is not immediately protected from all suffering, because some of the preserved hairs are thrown into the fire. The symbolism emphasizes how severe the coming judgment will be while still leaving room for the possibility of survival and eventual restoration.
God then explains why Jerusalem is being judged so severely.
Jerusalem has been given a unique position among the nations. It has received God's commands and has been given special spiritual privileges, but instead of responding with faithfulness, the people have repeatedly rebelled.
Their problem is therefore not ignorance.
They know God's commands.
They have received His instruction.
They have had opportunities to repent.
Yet they continue to reject Him.
The chapter presents this as a serious principle: greater spiritual privilege brings greater responsibility. Jerusalem's judgment is severe partly because the city has been given much and has repeatedly rejected what it has received.
God declares that Jerusalem has behaved in ways that are worse than those of surrounding nations, particularly through idolatry and the defilement of the sanctuary.
This is particularly serious because the Temple was supposed to represent the holy presence and worship of God. Instead, the people have introduced practices that contradict their covenant relationship with Him.
The consequence is that the city will become a public example of judgment.
Jerusalem, once a significant political and religious center, will become a ruin that surrounding nations can see and discuss. Its humiliation will demonstrate what happens when a community repeatedly rejects God's commands despite receiving repeated warnings.
The chapter also gives a horrifying description of family breakdown during the siege, including the suffering of parents and children. This reflects the extreme conditions created by prolonged warfare and famine, where ordinary social structures collapse and survival becomes the dominant concern.
The final verses gather together several forms of disaster—famine, plague, violence, and destruction—to create a picture of comprehensive judgment.
The central message is that Ezekiel 5 uses the prophet's shaved and divided hair as a powerful visual representation of Jerusalem's population, with the burning, sword-striking, and scattering of the hair symbolizing the famine, violence, death, and exile that will come upon the city, while the small portion preserved in Ezekiel's garment provides an important glimpse of a surviving remnant, and God's explanation of Jerusalem's guilt shows that its destruction is not presented as an arbitrary disaster but as the consequence of persistent rebellion by a people who had received extraordinary spiritual privileges and yet repeatedly rejected God's commands, defiled His sanctuary with idolatry, and refused to change despite generations of warning, so that the once-prominent city will become a public example of devastation among the nations, while the chapter's combination of severe judgment and the preservation of a small remnant establishes a pattern that will continue throughout Ezekiel's prophecy, in which God's judgment is real and devastating but does not necessarily mean that His purposes for His people have come to an end.
The chapter begins with God commanding Ezekiel to shave his head and beard with a sword. Because Ezekiel was a priest, this was an especially striking action, since hair and appearance could carry social and religious significance. The unusual command was intended to attract attention and communicate that something extraordinary was about to happen to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel then weighs the hair and divides it into different portions.
One portion is burned.
Another is struck with the sword.
The remaining portion is scattered into the wind.
These actions represent the different experiences awaiting Jerusalem's inhabitants. Some will die from famine and disease, others will die through war and violence, and others will be scattered into foreign lands through exile.
The symbolism becomes especially clear later in the chapter when God explains that one-third will die from plague or famine, another third will fall by the sword around Jerusalem, and the final third will be scattered among the nations.
This means the hair is not merely a symbol of Jerusalem itself but represents the people of the city and the different ways the population will be affected by the coming catastrophe.
Yet Ezekiel is instructed to preserve a small amount of hair.
He wraps it into the edge of his garment.
This small remnant introduces an important element of hope into an otherwise devastating prophecy. God is not saying that every person will disappear. Even after judgment, some will remain.
However, even this remnant is not immediately protected from all suffering, because some of the preserved hairs are thrown into the fire. The symbolism emphasizes how severe the coming judgment will be while still leaving room for the possibility of survival and eventual restoration.
God then explains why Jerusalem is being judged so severely.
Jerusalem has been given a unique position among the nations. It has received God's commands and has been given special spiritual privileges, but instead of responding with faithfulness, the people have repeatedly rebelled.
Their problem is therefore not ignorance.
They know God's commands.
They have received His instruction.
They have had opportunities to repent.
Yet they continue to reject Him.
The chapter presents this as a serious principle: greater spiritual privilege brings greater responsibility. Jerusalem's judgment is severe partly because the city has been given much and has repeatedly rejected what it has received.
God declares that Jerusalem has behaved in ways that are worse than those of surrounding nations, particularly through idolatry and the defilement of the sanctuary.
This is particularly serious because the Temple was supposed to represent the holy presence and worship of God. Instead, the people have introduced practices that contradict their covenant relationship with Him.
The consequence is that the city will become a public example of judgment.
Jerusalem, once a significant political and religious center, will become a ruin that surrounding nations can see and discuss. Its humiliation will demonstrate what happens when a community repeatedly rejects God's commands despite receiving repeated warnings.
The chapter also gives a horrifying description of family breakdown during the siege, including the suffering of parents and children. This reflects the extreme conditions created by prolonged warfare and famine, where ordinary social structures collapse and survival becomes the dominant concern.
The final verses gather together several forms of disaster—famine, plague, violence, and destruction—to create a picture of comprehensive judgment.
The central message is that Ezekiel 5 uses the prophet's shaved and divided hair as a powerful visual representation of Jerusalem's population, with the burning, sword-striking, and scattering of the hair symbolizing the famine, violence, death, and exile that will come upon the city, while the small portion preserved in Ezekiel's garment provides an important glimpse of a surviving remnant, and God's explanation of Jerusalem's guilt shows that its destruction is not presented as an arbitrary disaster but as the consequence of persistent rebellion by a people who had received extraordinary spiritual privileges and yet repeatedly rejected God's commands, defiled His sanctuary with idolatry, and refused to change despite generations of warning, so that the once-prominent city will become a public example of devastation among the nations, while the chapter's combination of severe judgment and the preservation of a small remnant establishes a pattern that will continue throughout Ezekiel's prophecy, in which God's judgment is real and devastating but does not necessarily mean that His purposes for His people have come to an end.