Ezekiel 4
New King James Version
The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
4 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 (A)Lay siege against it, build a (B)siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be (C)besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. (D)This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; (E)so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
7 “Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. 8 (F)And surely I will [a]restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.
9 “Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. 11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”
13 Then the Lord said, “So (G)shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”
14 So I said, (H)“Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten (I)what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has (J)abominable[b] flesh ever come into my mouth.”
15 Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the (K)supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall (L)eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall (M)drink water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and (N)waste away because of their iniquity.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:8 Lit. put ropes on
- Ezekiel 4:14 Ritually unclean flesh, Lev. 7:18
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)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.
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