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Ezekiel 4
New English Translation

Ominous Object Lessons

4 “And you, son of man, take a brick[a] and set it in front of you. Inscribe[b] a city on it—Jerusalem. 2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp[c] against it! Post soldiers outside it[d] and station battering rams around it. 3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan[e] 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 sign[f] for the house of Israel.

4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity[g] 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 days[h] for you—390 days.[i] So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.[j]

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 days[k]—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.[l]

9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,[m] put them in a single container, and make food[n] from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side—390 days[o]—you will eat it. 10 The food you eat will be eight ounces[p] a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.[q] 11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;[r] you must drink it at fixed times. 12 And you must eat the food as 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 nations[t] 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 meat[u] 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 supply[v] in Jerusalem. 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.[w]

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:1 sn Ancient Near Eastern bricks were 10 to 24 inches long and 6 to 13½ inches wide.
  2. Ezekiel 4:1 tn Or perhaps “draw.”
  3. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Or “a barricade.”
  4. Ezekiel 4:2 tn Heb “set camps against it.”
  5. Ezekiel 4:3 tn Or “a griddle,” that is, some sort of plate for cooking.
  6. Ezekiel 4:3 tn That is, a symbolic object lesson.
  7. Ezekiel 4:4 tn Or “punishment” (also in vv. 5, 6).
  8. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Heb “I have assigned for you that the years of their iniquity be the number of days.” Num 14:33-34 is an example of the reverse, where the days were converted into years, the number of days spying out the land becoming the number of years of the wilderness wanderings.
  9. Ezekiel 4:5 tc The LXX reads “190 days.” sn The significance of the number 390 is not clear. The best explanation is that “days” are used figuratively for years and the number refers to the years of the sinfulness of Israel during the period of the First Temple. Some understand the number to refer to the length of the division of the northern and southern kingdoms down to the fall of Jerusalem (931-586 b.c.), but this adds up to only 345 years.
  10. Ezekiel 4:5 tn Or “When you have carried the iniquity of the house of Israel,” and continuing on to the next verse.
  11. Ezekiel 4:6 sn The number 40 may refer in general to the period of Judah’s exile, indicating the number of years Israel was punished in the wilderness. In this case, however, one would need to translate, “you will bear the punishment of the house of Judah.”
  12. Ezekiel 4:8 sn The action surely refers to a series of daily acts rather than to a continuous period.
  13. Ezekiel 4:9 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
  14. Ezekiel 4:9 tn Heb “bread.”
  15. Ezekiel 4:9 tc The LXX reads: “190 days.”
  16. Ezekiel 4:10 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
  17. Ezekiel 4:10 tn Heb “from time to time.”
  18. Ezekiel 4:11 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
  19. Ezekiel 4:12 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
  20. Ezekiel 4:13 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
  21. Ezekiel 4:14 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
  22. Ezekiel 4:16 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
  23. Ezekiel 4:17 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
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Ezekiel 4
International Standard Version

The Vision of the Brick

4 “And now Son of Man, you are to take a brick,[a] set it in front of you, and inscribe on it the outline of[b] the city—that is, Jerusalem.[c] 2 You are to lay siege against it, build a rampart around it, set a bulwark against it, encircle it with a berm, set up camps against it, and place battering rams around it. 3 Then you are to take a flat, iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city.

“Next, you are to turn toward it, oppose[d] it, and place it under siege, because you are to lay siege to it. All of this will serve as a sign to the house of Israel.

4 “Now as for you, you are to sleep[e] on your left side, symbolically[f] bearing the punishment[g] of the house of Israel while you’re counting the days you’ll be sleeping on your left side[h] to bear symbolically[i] the punishment for[j] their sin. 5 I’ve assigned you to sleep this way for 390 days, representing the years they’ve been sinning,[k] as you bear symbolically[l] the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed this, you are to sleep[m] on your right side, symbolically[n] bearing the iniquity of Judah for 40 days. Each day that I’ve assigned to you represents one year. 7 After this, you are to turn toward the rampart of Jerusalem and oppose[o] it with your bare arms, because I’m going to prophesy about it. 8 Look! I’ll tie you up[p] so that you’re unable to turn from one side to the other until you’ve completed your siege.”

Ezekiel’s Menu

9 “Furthermore, you are to take some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and mix them together in one container. Then you are to make bread from these grains sufficient to supply you through the time during which you’ll be sleeping on your side. You are to eat it for 390 days. 10 The food that you’ll be eating is to consist of portions weighing 20 shekels,[q] to be consumed daily at regular intervals.[r] 11 You are to measure one sixth of one hin[s] of water each time you drink it. 12 You are to eat it as barley cakes and bake it right in front of them, using dried human dung for cooking fuel.”[t]

13 Then the Lord said, “This is how the Israelis will be eating unclean food among the nations, where I’ll be sending them.”

14 “Now, Lord God,” I replied, “I’ve never been defiled, ever since I was young until now. I haven’t eaten an animal that died on its own or was torn by beasts, and no unclean meat has ever entered my mouth!”

15 “Very well,” he responded. “I’ll allow you to substitute cow’s dung for human dung. Cook your food[u] over that.”

16 He also told me, “Son of Man, look! I’m about to disrupt the source[v] of bread in Jerusalem. As a result, they’ll ration bread by weight while their terror continues to grow and they’ll ration drinking water while their horror continues to mount! 17 Indeed, they’ll need bread and water, but everyone will be panic-stricken as they waste away in their iniquity.”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:1 Or tile
  2. Ezekiel 4:1 The Heb. lacks the outline of
  3. Ezekiel 4:1 I.e. a symbolic map of the city
  4. Ezekiel 4:3 Lit. it, set your face against
  5. Ezekiel 4:4 Lit. lay
  6. Ezekiel 4:4 The Heb. lacks symbolically
  7. Ezekiel 4:4 Or iniquity
  8. Ezekiel 4:4 Lit. on it
  9. Ezekiel 4:4 The Heb. lacks symbolically
  10. Ezekiel 4:4 Or the iniquity of
  11. Ezekiel 4:5 I.e. one year for each day
  12. Ezekiel 4:5 The Heb. lacks symbolically
  13. Ezekiel 4:6 Lit. lay
  14. Ezekiel 4:6 The Heb. lacks symbolically
  15. Ezekiel 4:7 Lit. and to set your face against
  16. Ezekiel 4:8 Lit. I’ll set ropes on you.
  17. Ezekiel 4:10 I.e. about eight ounces; a shekel weighed about 0.4 ounces
  18. Ezekiel 4:10 Lit. it from time to time
  19. Ezekiel 4:11 I.e. about a pint and a half
  20. Ezekiel 4:12 The Heb. lacks for cooking fuel
  21. Ezekiel 4:15 Lit. bread
  22. Ezekiel 4:16 Lit. staff
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Ezekiel 3
Ezekiel 5
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