Ezekiel 4

1 'And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city — Jerusalem,

“Son of man, you are to take a brick, put in front of you, and draw a picture of the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 and hast placed against it a siege, and builded against it a fortification, and poured out against it a mount, and placed against it camps, yea, set thou against it battering-rams round about.

Show that it's under siege: establish a siege perimeter all around it, build a siege ramp against it, set up the enemy camps beside it, and put battering rams on all sides around it.

3 And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it [is] to the house of Israel.

Put an iron plate between yourself and the city so it's like an iron wall. Face the city and demonstrate that it's under siege, and that you are the one attacking it. This is a symbolic warning to the people of Israel.

4 'And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity.

Then lie on your left side and take the Israelites' sins on yourself. You will carry their sins for the number of days you lie on your side.

5 And I — I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.

I will make you stay there for 390 days, representing the number of years of their sins. You will bear the sins of the Israelites.

6 And thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days — a day for a year — a day for a year I have appointed to thee.

Once you have finished doing this for these days, then you are to lie down again, but this time on your right side, and carry the sins of the people of Judah. I will make you stay there for 40 days, one day for every year.

7 'And unto the siege of Jerusalem thou dost prepare thy face, and thine arm [is] uncovered, and thou hast prophesied concerning it.

Keep your face towards the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.

8 And lo, I have put on thee thick bands, and thou dost not turn from side to side till thy completing the days of thy siege.

Be ready, because now I'm going to tie you up with ropes so you can't move from side to side until the days of your siege are over.

9 'And thou, take to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and thou hast put them in one vessel, and made them to thee for bread; the number of the days that thou art lying on thy side — three hundred and ninety days — thou dost eat it.

Get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and mix them together in a storage jar. Use them to make bread for yourself. This is what you are to eat for the 390 days that you lie on your side.

10 And thy food that thou dost eat [is] by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time thou dost eat it.

You are allowed to eat twenty shekels weight of food each day, and you are to eat it at regular times.

11 'And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink [it].

Measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at regular times.

12 A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung — the filth of man — thou dost bake before their eyes.

You are to eat the bread as you would a barley loaf. You are to bake it over a fire burning dried human excrement as everyone watches.”

13 And Jehovah saith, 'Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.'

Then the Lord said, “This is the way the Israelites will eat their unclean bread among the nations where I'll exile them.”

14 And I say, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.'

“Please no, Lord God!” I answered. “I have never made myself unclean. I haven't eaten anything found dead or killed by wild animals from the time I was young until now. I've never put unclean meat in my mouth.”

15 And He saith unto me, 'See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'

“All right,” he said. “I'll let you use cow manure instead of human excrement You can bake your bread over a fire using that.”

16 And He saith unto me, 'Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;

Then he went on, “Son of man, watch! I am going to put a stop to Jerusalem's food supply. Worried sick, they will eat bread rationed by weight. Despairing at what's happening, they will drink water measured in small amounts.

17 so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished one with another, and been consumed in their iniquity.

Running out of food and water, they will be horrified as they look at one another wasting away because of their sins.”