Ezekiel 4
New American Standard Bible
Siege of Jerusalem Predicted
4 “Now you, son of man, (A)get yourself a brick, place it before you, and inscribe a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Then (B)lay siege against it, build a siege wall, pile up an assault ramp, set up camps, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and direct your face toward it so that (C)it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a (D)sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Then you are to lie down on your left side and put the wrongdoing of the house of Israel on it; you shall (E)bear their wrongdoing for the number of days that you lie on it. 5 For I have assigned you a number of days corresponding to the years of their wrongdoing, 390 days; so (F)you shall bear the wrongdoing of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these days, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the wrongdoing of the house of Judah; I have assigned it to you for forty days, a day for (G)each year. 7 Then you shall direct your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and (H)prophesy against it. 8 Now behold, I will (I)put ropes [a]around you so that you cannot turn from your one side to your other until you have completed the days of your siege.
Defiled Bread
9 “But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and (J)spelt, and put 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 Your food which you eat shall be (K)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 The water you drink shall be a [b]sixth of a 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 the Lord said, “In this way the sons of Israel will eat their bread (M)unclean among the nations where I will scatter them.” 14 But I said, “(N)Oh, Lord [c]God! Behold, [d]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 animals, nor has any (Q)unclean meat ever entered my mouth!” 15 Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung, so that you may prepare your bread over it.” 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 drink water by (T)measure and in horror, 17 because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and (U)waste away in their guilt.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:8 Lit on
- Ezekiel 4:11 About 0.6 qt. or 0.6 liter
- Ezekiel 4:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Ezekiel 4:14 Lit my soul has
Ezekiel 4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
4 “And you, O mortal, take a brick and set it before you. On it portray a city, Jerusalem,(A) 2 and put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a ramp against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.(B) 3 Then take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.(C)
4 “Then lie on your left side and place the guilt of the house of Israel upon it; you shall bear their guilt for the number of the days that you lie there.(D) 5 For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their guilt, and so you shall bear the guilt of the house of Israel.(E) 6 When you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the guilt of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, one day for each year. 7 You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and with your arm bared you shall prophesy against it.(F) 8 See, I am putting cords on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.(G)
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel and make bread for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 The food that you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; at fixed times you shall eat it. 11 And you shall drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; at fixed times you shall drink. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.”(H) 13 The Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread, unclean, among the nations to which I will drive them.”(I) 14 Then I said, “Ah Lord God! I have never defiled myself; from my youth up until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has carrion flesh come into my mouth.”(J) 15 Then he said to me, “See, I will let you have cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.”
16 Then he said to me, “Mortal, I am going to cut off the supply of bread[a] in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.(K) 17 Lacking bread and water, they will look at one another in dismay and waste away under their punishment.(L)
Footnotes
- 4.16 Heb staff of bread
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.