For thus saith the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
The city that went out by a thousand i:e., 'the city from which there used to go out a thousand' equipped for war. "City" is put for "the inhabitants of the city," as in Amos 4:8.
Shall leave an hundred - shall have only a hundred left, the rest being destroyed by sword and pestilence (Deuteronomy 28:62).