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And thou, son of man, take to thee a tilestone; and thou shalt set it before thee, and thou shalt describe therein the city of Jerusalem (and thou shalt draw upon it the city of Jerusalem).

And thou shalt ordain besieging against that Jerusalem; and thou shalt build strongholds, and thou shalt bear together [an heap of] earth, and thou shalt give hosts of battle against it, and thou shalt set engines by compass (and thou shalt set up battering rams all around it).

And take thou to thee an iron frying pan; and thou shalt set it into an iron wall betwixt thee and betwixt the city; and thou shalt set steadfastly thy face to it, and it shall be into besieging, and thou shalt (en)compass it; it is a sign to the house of Israel. (And take thou thee an iron frying pan; and thou shalt set it there like an iron wall between thee and the city; and thou shalt steadfastly set thy face toward the city, and it shall be into besieging, and so thou shalt surround, or besiege, it; this shall be a sign to the house of Israel.)

And thou shalt sleep on thy left side, and thou shalt put the wickednesses of the house of Israel on that side; in the number of days in which thou shalt sleep on that side, and thou shalt take the wickedness of them (for the number of days in which thou shalt sleep on that side, thou shalt bear their wickedness).

Forsooth I gave to thee the years of the wickedness of them by (the) number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou shalt bear the wickedness of the house of Israel.

And when thou hast [ful]filled these things, thou shalt sleep the second time on thy right side. And thou shalt take the wickedness of the house of Judah by forty days; I gave to thee a day for a year, a day soothly for a year (And thou shalt bear the wickedness of the house of Judah for forty days; I shall give thee a day for a year, truly a day for a year).

And thou shalt turn thy face to the besieging of Jerusalem; and thine arm shall be stretched forth, and thou shalt prophesy against it.

Lo! I have (en)compassed thee with bonds, and thou shalt not turn thee from this side into the other side, till thou [ful]fill the days of thy besieging. (Lo! I have surrounded thee with bonds, and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other side, until thou fulfill the days of thy besieging.)

And take thou to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches; and thou shalt put those into one vessel. And thou shalt make to thee loaves for the number of days, by which thou shalt sleep on thy side; by three hundred and ninety days thou shalt eat it. (And get thou for thyself some wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and vetches; and thou shalt put them into one pot. And thou shalt make loaves for thyself for the number of days by which thou shalt sleep on thy side; for three hundred and ninety days thou shalt eat it.)

10 Forsooth thy meat, which thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters in a day (And thy food, which thou shalt eat, shall be, by weight, twenty staters a day); from time till to time thou shalt eat it.

11 And thou shalt drink water in measure, the sixth part of hin (And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin); from time till to time thou shalt drink it.

12 And thou shalt eat it as barley bread baken under the ashes; and with the dung that goeth out of a man thou shalt cover it, before the eyes of them. (And thou shalt eat it like barley bread baked under ashes; and thou shalt cover it with the dung that goeth out of a person, before their eyes.)

13 The Lord saith these things, So the sons of Israel shall eat their bread defouled among heathen men, to whom I shall cast them out. (The Lord saith these things, And so shall the Israelites eat their defiled bread among the heathen, to whom I shall cast them out.)

14 And I said, A! A! A! Lord God, lo! my soul is not defouled, and from my young childhood till to now I ate not a thing dead by itself, and rent of beasts; and all unclean flesh entered not into my mouth. (And I said, O! O! O! Lord God, lo! my soul is not defiled, and from my young childhood until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally, or was torn apart by beasts; and no unclean flesh hath ever entered into my mouth.)

15 And (so) he said to me, Lo! I have given to thee the dung of oxes for men’s turds; and thou shalt make (ready) thy bread with it (instead).

16 And he said to me, Son of man, lo! I shall all-break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat their bread in weight and in busyness, and they shall drink water in measure and in anguish; (And he said to me, Son of man, lo! I shall all-break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat their bread by weight and in busyness, or in distress, or in dis-ease, and they shall drink water by measure and in anguish;)

17 that when bread and water fail, each man fall down to his brother, and they fail in their wickednesses. (so that when the bread and water fail, each person shall fall down before their neighbour, and they shall die in their wickednesses.)

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp(A) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.(B) Then take an iron pan,(C) place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward(D) it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign(E) to the people of Israel.(F)

“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.[a] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin(G) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.(H) Turn your face(I) toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.(J)

“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;(K) put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10 Weigh out twenty shekels[b](L) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11 Also measure out a sixth of a hin[c] of water and drink it at set times.(M) 12 Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement(N) for fuel.” 13 The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”(O)

14 Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!(P) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead(Q) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.(R)

15 “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

16 He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off(S) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,(T) 17 for food and water will be scarce.(U) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of[d] their sin.(V)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 4:4 Or upon your side
  2. Ezekiel 4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams
  3. Ezekiel 4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter
  4. Ezekiel 4:17 Or away in