Yehezkiel 5:10-12

5:10 Therefore fathers will eat their sons within you, Jerusalem, ¹  and sons will eat their fathers. I will execute judgments on you, and I will scatter any survivors ²  to the winds. ³ 

5:11 “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare ⁴  you. 5:12 A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. ⁵  A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, ⁶  and a third I will scatter to the winds. I will unleash a sword behind them.

[5:10]  ¹ tn In context “you” refers to the city of Jerusalem. To make this clear for the modern reader, “Jerusalem” has been supplied in the translation in apposition to “you.”

[5:10]  sn This cannibalism would occur as a result of starvation due to the city being besieged. It is one of the judgments threatened for a covenant law violation (Lev 26:29; see also Deut 28:53; Jer 19:9; Lam 2:20; Zech 11:9).

[5:10]  ² tn Heb “all of your survivors.”

[5:10]  ³ tn Heb “to every wind.”

[5:11]  ⁴ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term is primarily emotional: “to pity,” which in context implies an action, as in being moved by pity in order to spare them from the horror of their punishment.

[5:12]  ⁵ sn The judgment of plague and famine comes from the covenant curse (Lev 26:25-26). As in v. 10, the city of Jerusalem is figuratively addressed here.

[5:12]  ⁶ sn Judgment by plague, famine, and sword occurs in Jer 21:9; 27:13; Ezek 6:11, 12; 7:15.