Ezekiel 4:9-17
New English Translation
9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,[a] put them in a single container, and make food[b] from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side—390 days[c]—you will eat it. 10 The food you eat will be eight ounces[d] a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed times.[e] 11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;[f] you must drink it at fixed times. 12 And you must eat the food as you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”[g] 13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations[h] where I will banish them.”
14 And I said, “Ah, Sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat[i] has never entered my mouth.”
15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”
16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply[j] in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.[k]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 4:9 sn Wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. All these foods were common in Mesopotamia where Ezekiel was exiled.
- Ezekiel 4:9 tn Heb “bread.”
- Ezekiel 4:9 tc The LXX reads: “190 days.”
- Ezekiel 4:10 sn Eight ounces (Heb “twenty shekels”). The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of grain about 230 grams here (8 ounces).
- Ezekiel 4:10 tn Heb “from time to time.”
- Ezekiel 4:11 sn A pint and a half [Heb “one-sixth of a hin”]. One-sixth of a hin was a quantity of liquid equal to about 1.3 pints or 0.6 liters.
- Ezekiel 4:12 sn Human waste was to remain outside the camp of the Israelites according to Deut 23:15.
- Ezekiel 4:13 sn Unclean food among the nations. Lands outside of Israel were considered unclean (Josh 22:19; Amos 7:17).
- Ezekiel 4:14 tn The Hebrew term refers to sacrificial meat not eaten by the appropriate time (Lev 7:18; 19:7).
- Ezekiel 4:16 tn Heb, “break the staff of bread.” The bread supply is compared to a staff that one uses for support.
- Ezekiel 4:17 tn Or “in their punishment.” Ezek 4:16-17 alludes to Lev 26:26, 39. The phrase “in/for [a person’s] iniquity” occurs fourteen times in Ezekiel: here, 3:18, 19; 7:13, 16; 18:17, 18, 19, 20; 24:23; 33:6, 8, 9; 39:23. The Hebrew word for “iniquity” may also mean the “punishment for iniquity.”
Ezekiel 4:9-17
Christian Standard Bible
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;[a] you will eat it at set times.[b] 11 You will also drink a ration of water, a sixth of a gallon,[c] 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.”(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 He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem.(D) They will anxiously eat food they have weighed out and in dread drink rationed water(E) 17 for lack of bread and water. Everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.(F)
Read full chapterNET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com 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.