Ezekiel 4

New Century Version

The Map of Jerusalem

4 “Now, human, get yourself a brick, put it in front of you, and draw a map of Jerusalem on it. ²Then surround it with an army. Build battle works against the city and a dirt road to the top of the city walls. Set up camps around it, and put heavy logs in place to break down the walls. ³Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up like an iron wall between you and the city. Turn your face toward the city as if to attack it and then attack. This is a sign to Israel.

⁴“Then lie down on your left side, and take the guilt of Israel on yourself. Their guilt will be on you for the number of days you lie on your left side. ⁵I have given you the same number of days as the years of the people’s sin. So you will have the guilt of Israel’s sin on you for three hundred ninety days.

⁶“After you have finished these three hundred ninety days, lie down a second time, on your right side. You will then have the guilt of Judah on you. I will give it to you for forty days, a day for each year of their sin. ⁷Then you will look toward Jerusalem, which is being attacked. With your arm bare, you will prophesy against Jerusalem. ⁸I will put ropes on you so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your attack on Jerusalem.

⁹“Take wheat, barley, beans, small peas, and millet seeds, and put them in one bowl, and make them into bread for yourself. You will eat it the three hundred ninety days you lie on your side. ¹⁰You will eat eight ounces of food every day at set times. ¹¹You will drink about two-thirds of a quart of water every day at set times. ¹²Eat your food as you would eat a barley cake, baking it over human dung where the people can see.” ¹³Then the Lord said, “In the same way Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I force them to go.”

¹⁴But I said, “No, Lord God! I have never been made unclean. From the time I was young until now I’ve never eaten anything that died by itself or was torn by animals. Unclean meat has never entered my mouth.”

¹⁵“Very well,” he said. “Then I will give you cow’s dung instead of human dung to use for your fire to bake your bread.”

¹⁶He also said to me, “Human, I am going to cut off the supply of bread to Jerusalem. They will eat the bread that is measured out to them, and they will worry as they eat. They will drink water that is measured out to them, and they will be in shock as they drink it. ¹⁷This is because bread and water will be hard to find. The people will be shocked at the sight of each other, and they will become weak because of their sin.

Ezekiel 4

Amplified Bible

Siege of Jerusalem Predicted

4 “Now you, son of man, take a brick, place it before you and inscribe on it [a diagram of] the city of Jerusalem. ²Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise a ramp against it; set up [enemy] camps and place battering rams all around it. ³Further, take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

⁴“Then lie down on your left side (toward the north) to bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the ^[a]house of Israel. You shall bear their wickedness and punishment for the number of days that you lie on your side. ⁵For I have assigned you the years of their wickedness and punishment, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days [representing three hundred and ninety years]; in this way you shall bear [symbolically] the wickedness and punishment of the house of Israel. ⁶When you have completed these [days for Israel], lie down again, but on your right side (toward the south), and you shall bear the wickedness and punishment of the ^[b]house of Judah forty days. I have assigned you one day for each year. ⁷Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. ⁸Now behold, I will put ropes on you so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

Defiled Bread

⁹“But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into 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, three hundred and ninety days. ¹⁰The food you eat each day shall be [measured] by weight, ^[c]twenty shekels, to be eaten daily at a set time. ¹¹You shall drink water by measure also, ^[d]the sixth part of a hin; you shall drink daily at a set time. ¹²You shall eat your food as barley cakes, having baked it in their sight over human dung.” ¹³Then the Lord said, “Thus the children of Israel will eat their bread unclean and defiled among the nations where I will banish them.”^(A) ¹⁴But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”^(B) ¹⁵Then He said to me, “See, I will let you use cow’s dung instead of human dung over which you shall prepare your food.” ¹⁶Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the staff of bread [that supports life] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread [rationed] by weight and [eat it] with anxiety and fear, and drink water by measure and [drink it] in horror [of the impending starvation],^(C) ¹⁷because bread and water will be scarce; and they will look at one another in dismay and waste away [in punishment] for their wickedness.

Footnotes

Ezekiel 4:4 I.e. the ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom.
Ezekiel 4:6 I.e. the two tribes of the Southern Kingdom.
Ezekiel 4:10 About a half pound.
Ezekiel 4:11 About a quart.

Ezekiel 4

Contemporary English Version

Ezekiel Acts Out an Attack on Jerusalem

The Lord said:

4 Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it. ²Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. ³Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.

^4-5After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for 390 days as a sign of Israel's punishment^[a]—one day for each year of its suffering. ⁶Then turn over and lie on your right side 40 more days. That will be a sign of Judah's punishment—one day for each year of its suffering.

⁷The brick stands for Jerusalem, so attack it! Stare at it and shout angry warnings. ⁸I will tie you up, so you can't leave until your attack has ended.

⁹Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. ¹⁰Eat only a small loaf of bread each day ¹¹and drink only two large cups of water. ¹²Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. ¹³When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.^[b]

¹⁴I said, “Lord God, please don't make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I've never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean.”

¹⁵The Lord replied, “Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure. ¹⁶Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless. ¹⁷Everyone will be shocked at what is happening, and, because of their sins, they will die a slow death.”

Footnotes

4.4,5 Israel's punishment: Israel here refers to the northern kingdom that was destroyed in 722 b.c.
4.13 have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do: The Lord had forbidden the people of Israel to mix certain things (see Deuteronomy 22.9-11), and so the people would not have been allowed to eat this bread under normal conditions. It is used here to show that when a city is under attack, people eat whatever food is left, even if the Lord had said it was unclean.