Ezekiel 4

1 'And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city — 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 hast placed against it a siege, and builded against it a fortification, and poured out against it a mount, and placed against it camps, yea, set thou against it battering-rams round about.

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 And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it [is] 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 'And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest 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 And I — I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne 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 thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days — a day for a year — a day for a year I have appointed to thee.

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 'And unto the siege of Jerusalem thou dost prepare thy face, and thine arm [is] uncovered, and thou hast prophesied concerning it.

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

8 And lo, I have put on thee thick bands, and thou dost not turn from side to side till thy completing 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 'And thou, take to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and thou hast put them in one vessel, and made them to thee for bread; the number of the days that thou art lying on thy side — three hundred and ninety days — thou dost eat 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 that thou dost eat [is] by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time thou dost 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 'And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink [it].

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

12 A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung — the filth of man — thou dost bake before their eyes.

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

13 And Jehovah saith, 'Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I 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 And I say, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.'

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 And He saith unto me, 'See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'

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 And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, lo, 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 do drink;

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 so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished one with another, and been consumed in their iniquity.

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