Ezekiel 4
Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel Acts Out an Attack on Jerusalem
The Lord said:
4 Ezekiel, son of man, find a brick and sketch a picture of Jerusalem on it. 2 Then prepare to attack the brick as if it were a real city. Build a dirt mound and a ramp up to the top and surround the brick with enemy camps. On every side put large wooden poles as though you were going to break down the gate to the city. 3 Set up an iron pan like a wall between you and the brick. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.
4-5 After that, lie down on your left side and stay there for 390 days as a sign of Israel's punishment[a]—one day for each year of its suffering. 6 Then turn over and lie on your right side 40 more days. That will be a sign of Judah's punishment—one day for each year of its suffering.
7 The brick stands for Jerusalem, so attack it! Stare at it and shout angry warnings. 8 I will tie you up, so you can't leave until your attack has ended.
9 Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. 10 Eat only a small loaf of bread each day 11 and drink only two large cups of water. 12 Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. 13 When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do.[b]
14 I said, “Lord God, please don't make me do that! Never in my life have I eaten food that would make me unacceptable to you. I've never eaten anything that died a natural death or was killed by a wild animal or that you said was unclean.”
15 The Lord replied, “Instead of human waste, I will let you bake your bread on a fire made from cow manure. 16 Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless. 17 Everyone will be shocked at what is happening, and, because of their sins, they will die a slow death.”
Footnotes
- 4.4,5 Israel's punishment: Israel here refers to the northern kingdom that was destroyed in 722 b.c.
- 4.13 have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do: The Lord had forbidden the people of Israel to mix certain things (see Deuteronomy 22.9-11), and so the people would not have been allowed to eat this bread under normal conditions. It is used here to show that when a city is under attack, people eat whatever food is left, even if the Lord had said it was unclean.
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
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
