God’s Razor of Judgment
1“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2When 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. 3But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.
7“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even5:7 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac You have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.
8“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. 9Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. 10Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. 11Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. 12A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.
13“Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.
14“I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. 16When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. 17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.”
1“Afei onipa ba, fa akofena nnamnnam yi yɛ sɛ obi a ɔyi ti yiwan na fa yi wo tirinwi ne wʼabɔgyesɛ. Fa nsania na kyekyɛ nwi no mu. 2Sɛ wo otua nna no ba awieeɛ a, fa ogya hye nwi no nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa mu baako wɔ kuropɔn no mu. Fa akofena twitwa nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa no mu baako wɔ kuropɔn no afanan nyinaa. Na hwete nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa mu baako wɔ mframa mu, ɛfiri sɛ mɛtwe akofena ataa wɔn. 3Nanso fa nwi no kakra bi kyekyere wʼatadeɛ ano. 4Afei nso, fa saa nwi no kakra bi na to gu ogya mu na hye. Ogya no bɛtrɛ afiri hɔ akɔ Israel efie nyinaa.
5“Yei ne deɛ Otumfoɔ Awurade seɛ: Yei ne Yerusalem a mede asi amanaman no ntam na nsase atwa ho ahyia. 6Nanso, nʼamumuyɛ mu, wayɛ dɔm atia me mmara ne me nhyehyɛeɛ asene aman ne nsase a atwa ne ho ahyia. Wapo me mmara, na wanni mʼahyɛdeɛ so.
7“Enti sei na Otumfoɔ Awurade seɛ: Woayɛ asoɔden asene amanaman a wɔatwa wo ho ahyia na woanni mʼahyɛdeɛ anaa me mmara so. Woanyɛ sɛdeɛ aman a atwa wo ho ahyia no yɛ mpo.
8“Enti sei na Otumfoɔ Awurade seɛ: Me ne wo anya, Yerusalem, na mede asotwe bɛba wo so wɔ amanaman no anim. 9Esiane wʼahoni nyinaa a ɛyɛ akyiwadeɛ no enti, mɛyɛ wo deɛ menyɛɛ bi da, na merenyɛ bi bio nso da. 10Enti, wɔ mo mu, agyanom bɛdi wɔn mma nam na mma adi wɔn agyanom nam. Mɛtwe wʼaso na mahwete wo nkaeɛfoɔ akɔ mmaa nyinaa. 11Enti sɛ mete ase yi, Otumfoɔ Awurade na ɔseɛ, ɛsiane sɛ wode nsɛsodeɛ tantan ne akyiwadeɛ nneyɛɛ agu me kronkronbea ho fi enti, mʼankasa mɛyi mʼadom afiri wo so; merenhunu wo mmɔbɔ na meremfa wo ho nkyɛ wo. 12Wo nkurɔfoɔ no mu nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa mu baako bɛwuwu wɔ ɔyaredɔm no mu, anaasɛ ɛkɔm bɛkunkum wɔn; nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa mu baako bɛtotɔ wɔ akofena ano wɔ wʼafasuo akyi, na mabɔ nkyɛmu mmiɛnsa mu baako nso ahwete mmaa nyinaa, na matwe akofena ataa wɔn.
13“Afei me bo bɛdwo na mʼabufuhyeɛ a ɛtia wɔn no nso ano bɛbrɛ ase na matɔ were. Na sɛ meda mʼabufuhyeɛ adi kyerɛ wɔn a, wɔbɛhunu sɛ ɛyɛ me Awurade na akasa wɔ me tumi mu.
14“Mɛyɛ wo mmubuiɛ ne ahohora wɔ amanaman a atwa wo ho ahyia no mu, ne wɔn a wɔtwam hɔ no ani so. 15Wobɛyɛ ahohora ne fɛdideɛ, kɔkɔbɔ ne ahodwiredeɛ ama amanaman a wɔatwa wo ho ahyia no, wɔ ɛberɛ a mede abufuo ne abufuhyeɛ ne animka a ano yɛ den mɛtwe wʼaso. Me Awurade na maka. 16Sɛ meto me kɔm agyan a, borɔ wɔ ano, na ɛbɛsɛe wo. Mede ɛkɔm a emu yɛ den bɛba wo so, na masi wʼaduane a wonya ho ɛkwan. 17Mede ɛkɔm ne nkekaboa bɛba wo mu, na wo mma bɛsa ama woayɛ sɛ obi a na ɔnni mma. Ɔyaredɔm ne mogyahwiegu bɛfa wo mu, na mɛtwe akofena wɔ wo so. Me Awurade na maka.”
