Ezekiel 4
New Living Translation
A Sign of the Coming Siege
4 “And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Show the city under siege. Build a wall around it so no one can escape. Set up the enemy camp, and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams. 3 Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.
4 “Now lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side. 5 I am requiring you to bear Israel’s sins for 390 days—one day for each year of their sin. 6 After that, turn over and lie on your right side for 40 days—one day for each year of Judah’s sin.
7 “Meanwhile, keep staring at the siege of Jerusalem. Lie there with your arm bared and prophesy her destruction. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so you won’t be able to turn from side to side until the days of your siege have been completed.
9 “Now go and get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat, and mix them together in a storage jar. Use them to make bread for yourself during the 390 days you will be lying on your side. 10 Ration this out to yourself, eight ounces[a] of food for each day, and eat it at set times. 11 Then measure out a jar[b] of water for each day, and drink it at set times. 12 Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread.” 13 Then the Lord said, “This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I will banish them!”
14 Then I said, “O Sovereign Lord, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law.”
15 “All right,” the Lord said. “You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung.” 16 Then he told me, “Son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. The water will be rationed out drop by drop, and the people will drink it with dismay. 17 Lacking food and water, people will look at one another in terror, and they will waste away under their punishment.
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
- Ezekiel 4:1 Or tile
- Ezekiel 4:1 The Heb. lacks the outline of
- Ezekiel 4:1 I.e. a symbolic map of the city
- Ezekiel 4:3 Lit. it, set your face against
- Ezekiel 4:4 Lit. lay
- Ezekiel 4:4 The Heb. lacks symbolically
- Ezekiel 4:4 Or iniquity
- Ezekiel 4:4 Lit. on it
- Ezekiel 4:4 The Heb. lacks symbolically
- Ezekiel 4:4 Or the iniquity of
- Ezekiel 4:5 I.e. one year for each day
- Ezekiel 4:5 The Heb. lacks symbolically
- Ezekiel 4:6 Lit. lay
- Ezekiel 4:6 The Heb. lacks symbolically
- Ezekiel 4:7 Lit. and to set your face against
- Ezekiel 4:8 Lit. I’ll set ropes on you.
- Ezekiel 4:10 I.e. about eight ounces; a shekel weighed about 0.4 ounces
- Ezekiel 4:10 Lit. it from time to time
- Ezekiel 4:11 I.e. about a pint and a half
- Ezekiel 4:12 The Heb. lacks for cooking fuel
- Ezekiel 4:15 Lit. bread
- Ezekiel 4:16 Lit. staff
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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