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
Ezekiel 4
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. Face 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 forty days, a day for each year. 7 Face 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 weigh eight ounces;[b] you will eat it at set times.[c] 11 You will also drink a ration of water, a sixth of a gallon,[d] which you will drink at set times. 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 He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem.(H) They will anxiously eat food they have weighed out and in dread drink rationed water(I) 17 for lack of bread and water. Everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.(J)
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.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.