Ezekiel 4

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:

“But you, son of man, take a brick for yourself and place it before you. Then carve the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mound against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it on every side.

Then lay siege against it, and build forts against it. Raise up an assault ramp against it and set camps around it. Place battering rams all around it.

3 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.

Then take for yourself an iron pan and use it as an iron wall between yourself and the city and set your face against it, for it will be under siege, and you are to put the siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

4 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.

Then, lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel on it; you will carry their sin for the number of the days that you lie down against the house of Israel.

5 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.

I myself am assigning to you one day to represent each year of their punishment: 390 days! In this way, you will carry the sin of the house of Israel.

6 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.

When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time on your right side, for you will carry the sin of the house of Judah for forty days. I am assigning to you one day for each year.

7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.

Set your face toward Jerusalem that is under siege, and with your arm uncovered prophesy against it.

8 And, behold, I will lay cords upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

For behold! I am placing bonds on you so you will not turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

9 Take thou also to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread of them, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat of it.

Take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them in a single container and make bread for yourself according to the number of the days that you will lie upon your side. For 390 days you will eat it.

10 And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

The food you will eat will be by weight, twenty shekels per day, and you will eat it at set times each day.

11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

Then you will drink water, measured out to a sixth of a hin, and you will drink it at set times.

12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.

You will eat it as barley cakes, but you will bake it on excrement of human dung within their sight!”

13 And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.

For Yahweh says, “This means that the bread that the people of Israel will eat will be unclean, there among the nations where I will banish them.”

14 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.

But I said, “Alas, Lord Yahweh! I have never been unclean! I have never eaten either anything that died or anything killed by animals, from my youth until now, and foul meat has never entered my mouth!”

15 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.

So he said to me, “Look! I have given you cow manure instead of human dung so you can prepare your bread over that.”

16 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 in horror:

He also said to me, “Son of man! Behold! I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread while rationing it in anxiety and drink water while rationing it in trembling.

17 That they may lack bread and water, and be appalled one with another, and pine away for their iniquity.

Because they will lack bread and water, every man will be dismayed at his brother and waste away because of their iniquity.”