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Ezekiel 4-5
Living Bible

4 1-2 “And now, son of dust, take a large brick and lay it before you and draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it. Draw a picture of siege mounds being built against the city, put enemy camps around it and battering rams surrounding the walls. 3 And put an iron plate between you and the city, like a wall of iron. Demonstrate how an enemy army will capture Jerusalem!

“There is special meaning in each detail of what I have told you to do. For it is a warning to the people of Israel.

4-5 “Now lie on your left side for 390 days,[a] to show that Israel will be punished for 390 years by captivity and doom. Each day you lie there represents a year of punishment ahead for Israel. 6 Afterwards, turn over and lie on your right side for forty days, to signify the years of Judah’s punishment. Each day will represent one year.

7 “Meanwhile continue your demonstration of the siege of Jerusalem; lie there with your arm bared to signify great strength and power in the attack against her.[b] This will prophesy her doom. 8 And I will paralyze you[c] so that you can’t turn over from one side to the other until you have completed all the days of your siege.

9 “During the first 390 days eat bread made of flour mixed from wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and spelt. Mix the various kinds of flour together in a jar. 10 You are to ration this out to yourself at the rate of eight ounces at a time, one meal a day. 11 And use one quart of water a day; don’t use more than that. 12 Each day take flour from the barrel and prepare it as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire, using dried human dung as fuel, and eat it. 13 For the Lord declares, Israel shall eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I exile them!”

14 Then I said, “O Lord God, must I be defiled by using dung? For I have never been defiled before in all my life. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or that I found injured or dead; and I have never eaten any of the kinds of animals our law forbids.”[d]

15 Then the Lord said, “All right, you may use cow dung instead of human dung.”

16 Then he told me, “Son of dust, bread will be tightly rationed in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. And the water will be portioned out in driblets, and the people will drink it with dismay. 17 I will cause the people to lack both bread and water; they will look at one another in frantic terror and waste away beneath their punishment.

5 “Son of dust, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and beard; use balances to weigh the hair into three equal parts. 2 Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. After your siege, burn it there. Scatter another third across your map and slash at it with a knife. Scatter the last third to the wind, for I will chase my people with the sword. 3 Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe; 4 then take a few hairs out and throw them into the fire, for a fire shall come from this remnant and destroy all Israel.”

5-7 The Lord God says, “This illustrates what will happen to Jerusalem, for she has turned away from my laws and has been even more wicked than the nations surrounding her.” 8 Therefore the Lord God says: “I, even I, am against you and will punish you publicly while all the nations watch. 9 Because of the terrible sins you have committed, I will punish you more terribly than I have ever done before or ever will again. 10 Fathers will eat their own sons, and sons will eat their fathers; and those who survive will be scattered into all the world.

11 “For I promise you: Because you have defiled my Temple with idols and evil sacrifices, therefore I will not spare you nor pity you at all. 12 One-third of you will die from famine and disease; one-third will be slaughtered by the enemy; and one-third I will scatter to the winds, sending the sword of the enemy chasing after you. 13 Then at last my anger will be appeased. And all Israel will know that what I threaten I do.

14 “So I will make a public example of you before all the surrounding nations and before everyone traveling past the ruins of your land. 15 You will become a laughingstock to the world and an awesome example to everyone, for all to see what happens when the Lord turns against an entire nation in furious rebuke. I, the Lord, have spoken it!

16 “I will shower you with deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. The famine will become more and more serious until every bit of bread is gone. 17 And not only famine will come, but wild animals will attack and kill you and your families; disease and war will stalk your land, and the sword of the enemy will slay you; I, the Lord, have spoken it!”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:4 390 days. Some versions read, “190 days.”
  2. Ezekiel 4:7 to signify great strength and power in the attack against her, implied.
  3. Ezekiel 4:8 paralyze you, literally, “lay bands upon you.”
  4. Ezekiel 4:14 the kinds of animals our law forbids, see Leviticus 11 for the dietary laws Ezekiel refers to here.
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Ezekiel 4-5
Lexham English Bible

Siege of Jerusalem Illustrated on a Brick

4 “Now,[a] son of man,[b] take for yourself a brick, and you must put it before you,[c] and you must portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 And you must build against it siege works, and you must build against it a bulwark, and you must heap against it a siege ramp, and you must set up against it camps and put against it a battering ram all around. 3 And take for yourself a plate of iron, and you must place it as a wall of iron between you and the city, and you must set your face against it, and it must be under siege,[d] and you must lay the siege against it; it is a sign for the house of Israel. 4 And you, lie down on your left side, and you must put[e] the guilt of the house of Israel on it. You will carry their guilt the number of days that you will lie on it. 5 And I will give to you the years of their guilt according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, and you must bear the guilt[f] of the house of Israel. 6 When you have completed these, then you must lie a second time on your right side; and you must bear the guilt[g] of the house of Judah forty days, a day for each year, a day for each year I give it to you. 7 And toward the siege of Jerusalem you must set your face and your bared arm; then you must prophesy against it. 8 Now[h] look! I will put on you cords, and you may not turn yourself from one side to your other side until you complete the days of your siege.

Ezekiel’s Strange Defiled Meal

9 “And you, take for yourself[i] wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet[j] and spelt, and you must put them in one vessel, and you must make them for yourself[k] into a food during the number of days that you are lying on your side; three hundred and ninety days you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you will eat[l] will be according to weight; twenty shekels for each day at fixed times[m] you shall eat it. 11 And an amount of water[n] you shall drink, a sixth of a hin; at fixed times[o] you shall drink it. 12 And as a bread-cake of barley you shall eat it, and with human excrement[p] you shall bake it before their eyes.” 13 And Yahweh said, “Thus shall the Israelites[q] eat their unclean food among the nations where I will scatter them.”[r] 14 And I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Look! I have not been defiling myself, and a dead body and mangled carcass I have not eaten from my childhood until now, and unclean meat[s] has not come into my mouth!” 15 And he said to me, “See I will give you cattle manure[t] in the place of the feces of a human, and you may prepare your food on it.” 16 And he said to me, “Son of man,[u] look, I am going to break the supply[v] of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight, anxiously,[w] and rationed water,[x] and they will drink with horror, 17 so that they will lack food and water, and they will be appalled with one another,[y] and they will waste away because of their guilt.[z]

5 “And you, son of man,[aa] take for yourself[ab] a sword, sharp as a barber’s razor.[ac] Take it for yourself, and you must cause it to pass over your head and over your beard, and you must take for yourself a set of scales for weighing, and you must divide them.[ad] 2 A third you must burn with fire in the midst[ae] of the city at the completion[af] of the days of the siege, and you must take a third, and you must strike it with the sword around it, and a third you must scatter to the wind, and I will draw a sword behind them. 3 And you must take from these a few in number, and you must tuck them in your hem. 4 And from them again you shall take some, and you must throw them in the middle of the fire, and you must burn them with fire; from it a fire will go out to all of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem in the midst of the nations where I have put her, and countries are around her. 6 But she has rebelled against my regulations to the point of wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they rejected my regulations, and as for my statutes, they did not walk in them. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because of your commotion more than the nations that are around you—you did not walk in my statutes, and you did not do my regulations, and according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you did not do. 8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look! I, even I,[ag] am against you, and I will execute judgment in the midst of you before the eyes of the nations, 9 and I will do with you that which I have not done, and which I will not do again, because of all of your detestable things. 10 Therefore[ah] parents[ai] will eat children[aj] in the midst of you, and children[ak] will eat their parents,[al] and I will execute judgment in you, and I will scatter your entire remnant to every wind. 11 Therefore as surely as I live,[am] declares[an] the Lord Yahweh, Surely[ao] because you have defiled my sanctuary with all of your vile idols and with all of your detestable things, now indeed I[ap] will reduce, and my eye will not take pity, and surely I will show no compassion. 12 A third of you will die because of the plague, and because of the famine they will perish in the midst of you, and a third will fall through the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every direction of the wind, and I will draw the sword behind them. 13 And my anger will come to an end, and I will place my rage on them, and I will relent, and they will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my passion when I fully vent my rage against them.[aq] 14 And I will make you into a desolate place and into a disgrace among the nations that surround you before the eyes of every one who passes by.[ar] 15 And it will be[as] an object of taunting[at] and an object of mockery, a warning and a horror to the nations that are around you whenever I execute judgments against you in anger and in wrath and in furious punishments! I, Yahweh, have spoken! 16 When I send my arrows of deadly famine against them, which will be as destruction that I will send in order to destroy you, I will increase famine against you, and I will break the supply of food[au] for you. 17 And I will send against you famine and fierce animals,[av] and they will make you childless; and plague and blood will pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, Yahweh, I have spoken!”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:1 Or “And”
  2. Ezekiel 4:1 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  3. Ezekiel 4:1 Literally “to the face of you”
  4. Ezekiel 4:3 Literally “in the siege”
  5. Ezekiel 4:4 Or “you will put”
  6. Ezekiel 4:5 Or “punishment”
  7. Ezekiel 4:6 Or “punishment”
  8. Ezekiel 4:8 Or “and”
  9. Ezekiel 4:9 Hebrew “you”
  10. Ezekiel 4:9 Or “sorghum”
  11. Ezekiel 4:9 Hebrew “you”
  12. Ezekiel 4:10 Hebrew “will eat it”
  13. Ezekiel 4:10 Literally “from time to time”
  14. Ezekiel 4:11 Literally “water by amount”
  15. Ezekiel 4:11 Literally “from time to time”
  16. Ezekiel 4:12 Literally “with human dung of the excrement of the human”
  17. Ezekiel 4:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  18. Ezekiel 4:13 Literally “which I will scatter them there”
  19. Ezekiel 4:14 Literally “flesh of unclean meat”
  20. Ezekiel 4:15 Literally “the manure of cattle”
  21. Ezekiel 4:16 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  22. Ezekiel 4:16 Literally “staff”
  23. Ezekiel 4:16 Literally “and with worry”
  24. Ezekiel 4:16 Literally “and water by amount”
  25. Ezekiel 4:17 Literally “a man and his brother”
  26. Ezekiel 4:17 Or “punishment”
  27. Ezekiel 5:1 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  28. Ezekiel 5:1 Hebrew “you”
  29. Ezekiel 5:1 Literally “the razor of the barbers”
  30. Ezekiel 5:1 That is, the hairs
  31. Ezekiel 5:2 Or “middle”
  32. Ezekiel 5:2 Literally “the completing”
  33. Ezekiel 5:8 Literally “surely I”
  34. Ezekiel 5:10 Literally “to thus”
  35. Ezekiel 5:10 Or “fathers”
  36. Ezekiel 5:10 Or “sons”
  37. Ezekiel 5:10 Or “sons”
  38. Ezekiel 5:10 Or “fathers”
  39. Ezekiel 5:11 Literally “alive I am”
  40. Ezekiel 5:11 Literally “declaration of”
  41. Ezekiel 5:11 Literally “If not”
  42. Ezekiel 5:11 Literally “and also I”
  43. Ezekiel 5:13 Literally “at my finishing my anger against them”
  44. Ezekiel 5:14 Literally “every one of passing by”
  45. Ezekiel 5:15 Or “and you will be”
  46. Ezekiel 5:15 Hebrew “taunt”
  47. Ezekiel 5:16 Literally “staff of bread”
  48. Ezekiel 5:17 Hebrew “animal”
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Ezekiel 4-5
New International Version

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp(A) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.(B) 3 Then take an iron pan,(C) place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward(D) it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign(E) to the people of Israel.(F)

4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.[a] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin(G) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.(H) 7 Turn your face(I) toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8 I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.(J)

9 “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;(K) put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels[b](L) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin[c] of water and drink it at set times.(M) 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement(N) for fuel.” 13 The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”(O)

14 Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!(P) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead(Q) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.(R)”

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off(S) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,(T) 17 for food and water will be scarce.(U) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of[d] their sin.(V)

God’s Razor of Judgment

5 “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor(W) to shave(X) your head and your beard.(Y) Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2 When the days of your siege come to an end, burn(Z) a third(AA) of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind.(AB) For I will pursue them with drawn sword.(AC) 3 But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.(AD) 4 Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire(AE) and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.(AF) 6 Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.(AG)

7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even[e] conformed to the standards of the nations around you.(AH)

8 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.(AI) 9 Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.(AJ) 10 Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents.(AK) I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.(AL) 11 Therefore as surely as I live,(AM) declares the Sovereign(AN) Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary(AO) with all your vile images(AP) and detestable practices,(AQ) I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.(AR) 12 A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds(AS) and pursue with drawn sword.(AT)

13 “Then my anger will cease and my wrath(AU) against them will subside, and I will be avenged.(AV) And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.(AW)

14 “I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.(AX) 15 You will be a reproach(AY) and a taunt, a warning(AZ) and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.(BA) I the Lord have spoken.(BB) 16 When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.(BC) 17 I will send famine and wild beasts(BD) against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed(BE) will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.(BF)”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:4 Or upon your side
  2. Ezekiel 4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
  3. Ezekiel 4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter
  4. Ezekiel 4:17 Or away in
  5. Ezekiel 5:7 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac You have
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Ezekiel 3
Ezekiel 6
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