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!”

Idolatrous Worship and Idolatrous Objects Denounced

6 And the word of Yahweh came^[aw] to me, saying, ² “Son of man,^[ax] set your face to the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, ³ and you must say, ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: “Look, I am bringing upon you the sword, and I will destroy your high places, ⁴ and your altars will be desolate, and your incense altars will be broken, and I will throw down your slain ones before^[ay] your idols, ⁵ and I will place^[az] the corpses of the children of Israel before^[ba] their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ In all of your dwellings, the cities will be desolate and the high places will be ruined, so that your altars will be desolate and will suffer punishment. Your idols will be broken and will come to an end, and your incense altars will be cut down, and your works will be destroyed, ⁷ and the slain one will fall in the midst of you, and then you will know that I am Yahweh. ⁸ But^[bb] I will spare some, so there will be^[bc] for you fugitives from the sword among the nations when you are scattered^[bd] in the countries. ⁹ And your fugitives will remember me among the nations to which they were taken captive, that I was shattered by their adulterous heart^[be] which departed from me, and by their adulterous eyes^[bf] which went after their idols, and they will feel loathing for themselves,^[bg] for the evil that they did, for all of their detestable things. ¹⁰ And they will know that I am Yahweh; not in vain^[bh] I spoke to bring to them this evil.”’ ¹¹ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Clap your hand and stamp with your foot, and say, “Alas, for all of the detestable things of the evil of the house of Israel, because of which^[bi] they will fall with the sword, with the famine, and with the plague. ¹² The one who is far away will die by the plague, and the one who is near will fall by the sword, and the one who is being left behind and being spared will die by the famine, and I will complete my rage on^[bj] them. ¹³ And you will know that I am Yahweh when their slain ones are in the midst of their idols^[bk] around their altars at every high hill, on the tops of all the mountains and under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the place at which they gave a pleasing scent for all of their idols. ¹⁴ And I will stretch out my hand against them, and I will make the land a desolation and a wasteland from the desert to Riblah in all of their dwellings, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

Punishment for Abominations Throughout the Land

7 And the word of Yahweh came^[bl] to me, saying, ² “And you, son of man,^[bm] thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel: ‘The end comes, the end on the four corners of the land. ³ Now the end is on you, and I will send my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all your detestable things. ⁴ And my eye will not take pity on you, and I will not show compassion for your ways; on you I will bring your detestable things; they will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.’ ⁵ Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! Disaster after disaster is coming! ⁶ The end comes, comes the end! It has awakened against you! Look! It comes! ⁷ Doom is coming against you, the dweller^[bn] of the land; the time comes, the day is near, panic and not joy is on the mountains. ⁸ Soon^[bo] I will pour out my rage on you, and I will fully vent my anger on you, and I will judge you according to your ways, and I will bring on you all of your detestable things. ⁹ And my eye will not take pity, and I will not show compassion. According to your ways I will deal with you,^[bp] and your detestable things will be in the midst of you, and you will know that I am Yahweh who strikes.^{[bq] 10} Look! The day is coming; doom goes out, the staff blossoms, pride sprouts. ¹¹ Violence has grown to become a staff of wickedness; none^[br] from them will remain, and none^[bs] from their abundance nor from their wealth;^[bt] and prominence will not be among them. ¹² The time has come, the day has arrived; let not the buyer rejoice, and let the seller not mourn, for anger is on all their multitude. ¹³ For the seller will not return to the merchandise while they are still alive,^[bu] for the vision is about all of its multitude; it will not change, and a man because of his guilt will not be able to hold onto his life. ¹⁴ They shall blow on the trumpet and prepare everything,^[bv] but there is no one going to the battle, for my anger is on all of their multitude. ¹⁵ The sword is outside,^[bw] and the plague and the famine are inside;^[bx] the one who is in the field will die by the sword, and the one who is in the city, famine and plague will devour him. ¹⁶ And if their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt. ¹⁷ All of the hands will hang limp, and all of the knees will be wet with urine.^{[by] 18} And they will wear sackcloth, and horror will cover them, and on all of the faces will be shame, and baldness on all of their heads. ¹⁹ Their silver they will discard on the streets, and filth will be their gold; their silver and their gold will not be able to rescue them on the day of the wrath of Yahweh. They will not satisfy their hunger^[bz] and their stomachs they will not fill, for their guilt will be their^[ca] stumbling block.

Judgment for the Profanation of the Temple and Sanctuary

²⁰ “‘And the beauty of its^[cb] ornament he made into a prideful thing^[cc] and made with it their detestable things and their vile idols; therefore I will make it into an impure thing for them. ²¹ And I will give it into the hand of strangers as plunder and to the wicked people of the earth as spoil, and they will defile it. ²² And I will turn my face from them, and they will defile my treasured place, and violent ones will enter and defile it. ²³ Make a chain for the land; it is full of bloody crimes^[cd] and the city is full of violence. ²⁴ And I will bring the worst of the nations, and they will take possession of their houses, and I will put to an end the pride of the mighty ones, and their sanctuaries will be defiled. ²⁵ Anguish comes, and they will seek peace, and there will be none. ²⁶ Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor will be upon rumor. And they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction will perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. ²⁷ The king will mourn, and the prince will be dressed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. According to their way I will do to^[ce] them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, and they will know that I am Yahweh.’”

Abominations in the Temple and in Jerusalem

8 And then^[cf] in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah were sitting before me.^[cg] And the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell on me there, ² and I saw,^[ch] and look! A figure like the appearance of a man;^[ci] from the appearance of his waist and below was fire, and from his waist and upward^[cj] was like the appearance of brightness,^[ck] like the outward appearance of^[cl] amber. ³ And he sent out the form of a hand, and he took me by a lock of hair of my head, and the Spirit lifted me between earth and heaven, and it brought me to Jerusalem in visions of God to the doorway of the inner gate that faced north,^[cm] at which there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which was making jealous. ⁴ And look! There was the glory of the God of Israel like the vision that I saw in the valley. ⁵ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[cn] lift up now^[co] your eyes toward the north.”^[cp] And I lifted up my eyes toward the north,^[cq] and, look, there was to the north of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy at the entrance. ⁶ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[cr] “Do you see^[cs] what they are doing—great detestable things that the house of Israel is committing^[ct] here so as to drive me from^[cu] my sanctuary, and yet you will see again^[cv] greater^[cw] detestable things.” ⁷ And he brought me to the doorway of the courtyard, and I saw, and look! A hole in the wall. ⁸ And he said to me, “Son of man,^[cx] dig now^[cy] through the wall.” And I dug through the wall, and look! There was a doorway. ⁹ And he said to me, “Come and see the detestable things, the evil that they are doing^[cz] here. ¹⁰ And I came, and I saw, and look, all kinds of creatures^[da] and detestable beasts;^[db] and all of the idols of the house of Israel were carved on the wall all around.^{[dc] 11} And seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel, and Jaazaniah, the son of Shaphan, was standing in the midst of them, and they were standing before them.^[dd] Each one had his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the cloud of the incense was going up. ¹² And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man,^[de] what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the inner rooms of his idol, for they are saying, ‘Yahweh is not seeing us; Yahweh has abandoned the land.’” ¹³ And he said to me, “Still you will see again^[df] greater detestable things that they are doing.” ¹⁴ And he brought me to the doorway of the gate of the house of Yahweh that is toward the north, and look! There were the women sitting weeping for Tammuz. ¹⁵ And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?^[dg] Still you will see again^[dh] greater detestable things than these.” ¹⁶ And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun. ¹⁷ And he said to me, “Have you seen, son of man?^[di] Was it too small a thing^[dj] for the house of Judah to do^[dk] the detestable things that they did here? For they filled up the land with violence, and they provoked me to anger again,^[dl] and look! They are putting the branch to their nose. ¹⁸ And so I will act in rage, and my eye will not take pity, and I will not have compassion, and they will cry in my ear with a loud voice, and I will not hear them.”