Ezekiel 4

1 Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a 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 plant battering rams against it round about.3 And take thou unto thee an iron pan, 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.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.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.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.7 And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.8 And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.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.10 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 thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.13 And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.14 Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! 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 abominable flesh 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.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 fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:17 that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

Ezekiel 4

Ominous Object Lessons

1 “And you, son of man, take a bricks and set it in front of you. Inscribet a city on it – Jerusalem.2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege rampt against it! Post soldiers outside itt and station battering rams around it.

3 Then for your part take an iron frying pant and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a signt for the house of Israel.
4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquityt of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity.

5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of dayst for you – 390 days.ss So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.t
6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 dayss – I have assigned one day for each year.7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it.

8 Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.s
9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,s put them in a single container, and make foodt from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 dayss – you will eat it.10 The food you eat will be eight ouncess a day by weight; you must eat it at fixedt times.11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;s you must drink it at fixed times.12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”s

13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nationss where I will banish them.”

14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meatt has never entered my mouth.”

15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”
16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supplyt in Jerusalem.s They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror

17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.t