Defiled Bread

“But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and (A)spelt, and put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, 390 days. 10 Your food which you eat shall be (B)twenty shekels a day by weight; you shall eat it from time to time. 11 The water you drink shall be a [a]sixth of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time. 12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, having baked it in their sight over human (C)dung.” 13 Then the Lord said, “In this way the sons of Israel will eat their bread (D)unclean among the nations where I will scatter them.” 14 But I said, “(E)Oh, Lord [b]God! Behold, [c]I have (F)never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what (G)died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has any (H)unclean meat ever entered my mouth!” 15 Then He said to me, “See, I will give you cow’s dung in place of human dung, so that you may prepare your bread over it.” 16 Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, behold, I am going to (I)break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by (J)weight and with anxiety, and drink water by (K)measure and in horror, 17 because bread and water will be scarce; and they will tremble with one another and (L)waste away in their guilt.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:11 About 0.6 qt. or 0.6 liter
  2. Ezekiel 4:14 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  3. Ezekiel 4:14 Lit my soul has

“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 be eight ounces[a] by weight; you will eat it from time to time.[b] 11 You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon,[c] which you will drink from time to time. 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.”(A)

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.(B) And impure meat has never entered my mouth.”(C)

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 Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem.(D) They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure.(E) 17 So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.(F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:10 Lit 20 shekels
  2. Ezekiel 4:10 Or it at set times
  3. Ezekiel 4:11 Lit hin