< Ezekiel 4 >

1 “And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself, and you have put it before you, and have carved a city on it—Jerusalem,
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, [even] Jerusalem;
2 and have placed a siege against it, and built a fortification against it, and poured out a mound against it, and placed camps against it, indeed, set battering-rams against it all around.
And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set [battering] rams against it on every side.
3 And you, take an iron pan for yourself, and you have made it a wall of iron between you and the city; and you have prepared your face against it, and it has been in a siege, indeed, you have laid siege against it. It [is] a sign to the house of Israel.
Moreover take thou to thee an iron pan, and set it [for] a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This [shall be] a sign to the house of Israel.
4 And you, lie on your left side, and you have placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that you lie on it, you bear their iniquity.
Lie thou also 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.
5 And I have laid the years of their iniquity on you, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and you have borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.
For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 And you have completed these, and have lain on your right side, a second time, and have borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days—a day for a year—a day for a year I have appointed to you.
And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.
7 And to the siege of Jerusalem you prepare your face, and your arm [is] uncovered, and you have prophesied concerning it.
Therefore thou shalt set thy face towards the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm [shall be] uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8 And behold, I have put thick bands on you, and you do not turn from side to side until your completing the days of your siege.
And behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.
9 And you, take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and you have put them in one vessel, and made them for bread for yourself; the number of the days that you are lying on your side—three hundred and ninety days—you eat it.
Take thou also to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, 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, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat of it.
10 And your food that you eat [is] by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time you eat it.
And thy food which thou shalt eat [shall be] by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 And you drink water by measure, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time you drink [it].
Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And you eat it [as] barley-cake, and it with dung—the filth of man—you bake before their eyes.”
And thou shalt eat it [as] barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with human excrement in their sight.
13 And YHWH says, “Thus the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations to where I drive them.”
And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
14 And I say, “Aah! Lord YHWH, behold, my soul is not defiled, and carcass, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even until now; nor has abominable flesh come into my mouth.”
Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither hath abominable flesh come into my mouth.
15 And He says to me, “See, I have given to you bullock’s dung instead of man’s dung, and you have made your bread by it.”
Then he said to me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread with them.
16 And He says to me, “Son of man, behold, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they drink;
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment.
17 so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished with one another, and been consumed in their iniquity.”
That they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

< Ezekiel 4 >