Ezekiel 4
Legacy Standard Bible
Ezekiel Bears Israel’s Iniquity
4 “Now as for you, son of man, (A)get yourself a brick, set it before you, and inscribe a city on it, Jerusalem. 2 Then (B)set a siege against it, build a siege wall against it, [a]raise up a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Now as for you, get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and establish your face toward it so that (C)it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a (D)sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Now as for you, lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; you shall (E)bear their iniquity for the number of days that you lie on it. 5 Now I have set a number of days for you corresponding to the years of their iniquity, 390 days; thus (F)you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And you shall complete these, and you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah; I have set it for you for forty days, a day for (G)each year. 7 Then you shall establish your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and (H)prophesy against it. 8 Now behold, I will (I)set ropes upon you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
Making Unclean Bread
9 “Now as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and (J)spelt; set them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 And your food which you eat shall be [b](K)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 The water you drink shall be the sixth part of a [c]hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human (L)dung.” 13 Then Yahweh said, “Thus will the sons of Israel eat their bread (M)unclean among the nations where I will banish them.” 14 But I said, “(N)Ah, Lord Yahweh! Behold, I have (O)never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what (P)died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any (Q)offensive meat ever entered my mouth.” 15 Then He said to me, “See, I will set for you cow’s dung in place of human dung over which you will prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to (R)break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by (S)weight and with anxiety, and they will drink water by (T)measure and in desolation 17 because bread and water will be lacking; and they will be in desolation with one another and (U)rot away in their iniquity.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:2 Lit cast
- Ezekiel 4:10 Approx. 8 oz. or 220 gm, a shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
- Ezekiel 4:11 A hin was approx. 1 gal. or 3.8 l
Ezekiel 4
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jerusalem’s Siege Dramatized
4 “Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege against it:(A) construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides. 3 Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.(B)
4 “Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity[a] of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.(C) 6 When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it. 8 Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.(D)
9 “Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 The food you eat each day will be eight ounces[b] by weight; you will eat it from time to time.[c] 11 You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon,[d] which you will drink from time to time. 12 You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.” 13 The Lord said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their bread—ceremonially unclean—among the nations where I will banish them.”(E)
14 But I said, “Oh, Lord God, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts.(F) And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”(G)
15 He replied to me, “Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that.” 16 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem.(H) They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure.(I) 17 So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.(J)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:4 Or punishment
- Ezekiel 4:10 Lit 20 shekels
- Ezekiel 4:10 Or it at set times
- Ezekiel 4:11 Lit hin
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