"Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts.

Therefore you are to tell them, "This is what the Lord GOD says, "I'm about to put an end to use of this proverb in Israel. It will never be used again as a proverb in Israel. Instead, tell them that the days are drawing near when every vision will be fulfilled.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "Just as the wood from a grape vine is removed from the forest and used for kindling fires, I'm giving the inhabitants of Jerusalem over

As long as I live," declares the LORD, "you won't use this proverb about Israel anymore.

Strong were its boughs, suitable for use in the scepter of a ruler. It reached to the clouds, noticeable because of its height and its abundant branches.

Fire had burned through its branches, consuming its shoots and fruits. No strong branches remain in it, and there is no scepter to rule!' "This is a lamentation, and it is to be used in mourning."

This is what the Lord GOD says: "Remove your turban! Take off your crown! Things aren't going to remain as they used to be. What is lowly will be exalted, and what is lofty will be brought low.

You used to be in Eden God's paradise! You wore precious stones for clothing: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and carbuncle. Your settings were crafted in gold, along with your engravings. On the day of your creation they had been prepared!

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: "I'm going to give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He's going to carry off her wealth, confiscate her war implements, and use it all to pay wages for his army!

"This is what the LORD says: "I'm putting an end to that gang from Egypt, and I'm going to use King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to do it!

I'll dry up their waterways, and evil men will sell off the land. I'm going to make that land desolate, along with everything that's in it, and I'm going to use foreigners to do it. I, the LORD have spoken!'"

"When I turn the land of Egypt into a desolation, and the land is emptied of everything that used to fill it, when I strike everyone who lives there, they will learn that I am the LORD.'

They will say, "This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited."

Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I'm going to bring it about!'

The desolate cities will be filled with flocks of human beings, just like Jerusalem used to be filled with flocks of sheep during the times of the appointed festivals. Then they will know that I am the LORD.'"

In that way, there were four tables on each side in front of the gate, for a total of eight tables for use in slaughtering the offerings.

An area 25,000 cubits long by 10,000 cubits wide is to be set aside for use by the Levite servants of the Temple, 20 parcels for their residential properties.

"You're to use an honest scale, an honest dry measure, and an honest liquid measure!

It is to be for use by priests from the descendants of Zadok, who have observed the things with which I charged them and who did not wander astray when the Israelis went astray, just as the descendants of Levi wandered astray.

"The rest, 5,000 units wide and 25,000 units along its front, will serve as a common portion for use by the city for housing and open spaces, since the city is to be in its midst.