Rabbi Yosef Pinto, an respected Israeli mystic, has claimed the coming of the killer respiratory disease was predicted in the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible

A Bible prophecy shows the coronavirus outbreak will plunge the world into its toughest periods for hundreds of years, a Rabbi has claimed.

Rabbi Yosef Pinto, an respected Israeli mystic, has claimed the coming of the killer respiratory disease was predicted in the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible.

He initially announced to the world he had a vision of a coming global catastrophe back in January.

Just days later, the coronavirus began to take hold in China before spreading round the world – infecting nearly 72,000 and killing more than 1,700.

Now he has claimed the prophecy was indeed the outbreak of the coronavirus and that such a plague of Biblical proportion was foretold in the holy book.

The scholar, who now lives in Morocco, warned the catastrophe could be even bigger than the Holocaust and urged people to “pray and repent”.

And in further Biblical foreshadowing, as China battles the coronavirus – it has now been hit by a locust plague spreading from Africa.

Confirming his vision, Rabbi Pinto said: “We must be prepared. What is happening in China is developing into a global catastrophe and the consequences will reach almost all corners of the world.

“This will soon become clear to all. I am not trying to scare anyone. I am only coming to tell the truth.

“Since the outbreak, tens of thousands have died in China, millions are being held in quarantine, for several weeks.

“Those who don’t die from the disease are dying of hunger.

“Soon, the supply of food will run out and the security forces will realise that they are also in quarantine and they will try to save themselves.”

Pinto pointed to a passage in the book of Ezekiel in which god pledged to “pour out his anger upon Sin”.

In modern Hebrew, Sin is the name for China, reports Breaking Israel News.

The text reads: “I will pour out my anger upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, and I will destroy the wealth of No. I will set fire to Egypt; Sin shall writhe in anguish and No shall be torn apart; and Noph [shall face] adversaries in broad daylight.”

Rabbi Pinto urged everyone to “pray for the entire world, to light candles, and to seek God’s forgiveness”.

He added: “We need to pray for redemption like never before.”

Coronavirus is believed to have originated in the meat markets of the Chinese city of Wuhan, places where many live animals are held togethers.

Unknown viruses then are able to pass between the different creatures before making the jump to humans, who do not have the antibodies to tackle the infection.

The SARS-like infection is believed to have originated from bats, before passing to another carrier and then to humans, according to the World Health Organisation.

It has now spread to more than two dozen countries worldwide – including the US and the UK – as it is carried around the world on commercial airplanes.

Victims can incubate the virus for weeks before eventually developing symptoms, a heavy dry cough and a high fever, that can prove to be fatal.

And in his initial vision, Rabbi Pinto gave a grim warning of things to come – saying the coming crisis would go down in history as “one of the worst”.

In a recorded message to his followers, Rabbi Pinto said: “Everyone knows that I am very careful in what I say.

“On Shabbat, I had a vision that was not at all simple. There is about to be an enormous shock in the world on the scale of the assassination of a world leader or the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“It will be a very difficult scale and come in ways that are very difficult. All the Jews must gather and strengthen themselves to pray and repent.

“The world is going to undergo a shock that will go down in history as one of the worst..”

Rabbi pinot also predicted the world could suffer economic collapse due to its dependency on the coronavirus-rocked China.

He also alluded to theories that China is not telling the whole truth about the numbers of infected people – amid reports hundreds of bodies a day are being burned in Wuhan.

The rabbi said: “We are talking about a catastrophe on the same level as the Holocaust.”

Daily Star, UK