Ezekiel 4

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, [even] Jerusalem;

And you, son of man, take a back and put it before you and on it make a picture of a town, even Jerusalem.

2 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.

And make an attack on it, shutting it in, building strong places against it, and making high an earthwork against it; and put up tents against it, placing engines all round it for smashing down its walls.

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.

And take a flat iron plate, and put it for a wall of iron between you and the town: and let your face be turned to it, and it will be shut in and you will make an attack on it. This will be a sign to the children 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, stretching yourself out on your left side, take the sin of the children of Israel on yourself: for as long as you are stretched out, so long will the sin of the children of Israel be on you.

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.

For I have had the years of their sin measured for you by a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: and you will take on yourself the sin of the children 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.

And when these days are ended, turning on your right side, you are to take on yourself the sin of the children of Judah: forty days, a day for a year, I have had it fixed for you.

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

And let your face be turned to where Jerusalem is shut in, with your arm uncovered, and be a prophet against it.

8 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.

And see, I will put bands on you; and you will be stretched out without turning from one side to the other till the days of your attack are ended.

9 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.

And take for yourself wheat and barley and different sorts of grain, and put them in one vessel and make bread for yourself from them; all the days when you are stretched on your side it will be your food.

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 are to take your food by weight, twenty shekels a day: you are to take it at regular times.

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

And you are to take water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: you are to take it at regular times.

12 And thou shalt eat it [as] barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with human excrement in their sight.

And let your food be barley cakes, cooking it before their eyes with the waste which comes out of a man.

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

And the Lord said, Even so the children of Israel will have unclean bread for their food among the nations where I am driving 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.

Then I said, Ah, Lord! see, my soul has never been unclean, and I have never taken as my food anything which has come to a natural death or has been broken by beasts, from the time when I was young even till now; no disgusting flesh has ever come into 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.

Then he said to me, See, I have given you cow's waste in place of man's waste, and you will make your bread ready on it.

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 with astonishment.

And he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder:

17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

So that they may be in need of bread and water and be wondering at one another, wasting away in their sin.