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
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
English Standard Version
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
4 “And you, (A)son of man, (B)take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 (C)And put siegeworks against it, (D)and build a siege wall against it, (E)and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, (F)and plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; (G)and set your face toward it, (H)and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is (I)a sign for the house of Israel.
4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment[a] of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, (J)you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, (K)390 days, (L)equal to the number of the years of their punishment. (M)So long shall you bear (N)the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and (O)bear (P)the punishment of the house of Judah. (Q)Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 (R)And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, (S)with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, (T)I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed (U)the days of your siege.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,[b] and put them into a single vessel and make your (V)bread from them. (W)During the number of days that you lie on your side, (X)390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be (Y)by weight, (Z)twenty shekels[c] a day; from day to day[d] you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink (AA)by measure, the sixth part of a hin;[e] from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it (AB)in their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat (AC)their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, (AD)“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.[f] (AE)From my youth up till now I have never eaten (AF)what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has (AG)tainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, (AH)“Son of man, behold, (AI)I will break the supply[g] of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread (AJ)by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water (AK)by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and (AL)look at one another in dismay, and (AM)rot away because of their punishment.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:4 Or iniquity; also verses 5, 6, 17
- Ezekiel 4:9 A type of wheat
- Ezekiel 4:10 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
- Ezekiel 4:10 Or at a set time daily; also verse 11
- Ezekiel 4:11 A hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
- Ezekiel 4:14 Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean
- Ezekiel 4:16 Hebrew staff
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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
