< Ezekiel 4 >

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and trace upon it a city, even Jerusalem;
And you, son of man, take you a brick, and you shall set it before your face, and shall portray on it the city, [even] Jerusalem.
2 and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
And you shall besiege it, and build works against it, and throw up a mound round about it, and pitch camps against it, and set up engines round about.
3 And take thou unto thee an iron griddle, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
And take you to yourself an iron pan, and you shall set it [for] an iron wall between you and the city: and you shall set your face against it, and it shall be in a siege, and you shall besiege it. This is a sign to the children of Israel.
4 Moreover lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.
And you shall lie upon your left side, and lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the hundred and fifty days [during] which you shall lie upon it: and you shall bear their iniquities.
5 For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
For I have appointed you their iniquities for a number of days, for a hundred and ninety days: so you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel.
6 And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.
And you shall accomplish this, and [then] shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquities of the house of Juda forty days: I have appointed you a day for a year.
7 And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.
So you shall set your face to the siege of Jerusalem, and shall strengthen your arm, and shall prophesy against it.
8 And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.
And, behold, I have prepared bonds for you, land you may not turn from your one side to the other, until the days of your siege shall be accomplished.
9 Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.
Take you also to you wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and bread-corn; and you shall cast them into one earthen vessel, and shall make them into loaves for yourself; and you shall eat them a hundred and ninety days, according to the number of the days [during] which you sleep on your side.
10 And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time shalt thou eat it.
And you shall eat your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shall you eat them.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from time to time shalt thou drink.
And you shall drink water by measure, even from time to time you shall drink the sixth part of a hin.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.'
And you shall eat them [as] a barley cake: you shall bake them before their eyes in man's dung.
13 And the LORD said: 'Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.'
And you shall say, Thus says the Lord God of Israel; Thus shall the children of Israel eat unclean things amongst the Gentiles.
14 Then said I: 'Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abhorred flesh into my mouth.'
Then I said, Not so, Lord God of Israel: surely my soul has not been defiled with uncleanness; nor have I eaten, that which died of itself or was torn of beasts from my birth until now; neither has any corrupt flesh entered into my mouth.
15 Then He said unto me: 'See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.'
And he said to me, Behold, I have given you dung of oxen instead of man's dung, and you shall prepare your loaves upon it.
16 Moreover He said unto me: 'Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and in appalment;
And he said to me, Son of man, behold, I break the support of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight and in lack; and shall drink water by measure, and in a state of ruin:
17 that they may want bread and water, and be appalled one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
that they may lack bread and water; and a man and his brother shall be brought to ruin, and they shall pine away in their iniquities.

< Ezekiel 4 >