have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.) Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with carefulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: that they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

2

And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp sword, as a barber's razor shalt thou take it unto thee, and shalt cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair. A third part shalt thou burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and thou shalt take a third part, and smite with the sword round about it; and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. And thou shalt take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts. And of these again shalt thou take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.

3

Thus saith the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem: I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her. And she hath rebelled against my judgements in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have rejected my judgements, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because ye are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgements, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you; therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I, even I, am against thee; and I will execute judgements in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations. 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. Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgements in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter unto all the winds. Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, and I also will have no pity. A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine

shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will scatter unto all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will satisfy my fury upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury upon them. Moreover I will make thee a desolation and a reproach, among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgements in thee in anger and in fury, and in furious rebukes: I the LORD have spoken it: when I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you; and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread; and I will send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee: I the LORD have spoken it.

20

The Doom of the Land

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy unto them, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places. And your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. And I will lay the carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished. And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries. And they that escape of you shall remember me among the

nations whither they shall be carried captives, how that I have been broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. And they shall know that I am the LORD: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.

2

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel: for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. And I will stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate and waste from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.