Ezekiel 4

1 Thou therefore O son of man Take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, —and portray thereon a city, even Jerusalem.

And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.

2 Then shalt thou lay siege against it And build up against it a siege-wall And cast up against it, a mound, — And set against it camps, And place against it battering-rams, round about.

And lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast up a mount, and set a camp against it, and place battering rams round about it.

3 Thou, therefore take thee a pan of iron, and set it for a wall of iron, between thee and the city, —then shalt thou direct thy face against it and it shall come into siege and thou shalt lay siege to it, a sign, shall it be to the house of Israel.

And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face resolutely against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: it is a sign to the house of Israel.

4 Thou, therefore lie thou on thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it, — during the number of the days which thou shalt lie thereon, shalt thou bear their punishment.

And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity.

5 I therefore have appointed thee the years of their punishment, by the number of days a hundred and ninety days, —so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days three hundred and ninety days: and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 And when thou hast ended these, then shalt thou lie, on thy right side. a second time, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah, — forty days, one day for each year, have I appointed thee.

And when thou hast accomplished this, thou shalt sleep again upon thy right side, and thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of the house of Juda forty days: a day for it year, yea, a day for a year I have appointed to thee.

7 Thus then unto the siege of Jerusalem, shalt thou direct thy face, with thine arm made bare, —so shalt thou prophesy against it.

And thou shalt turn thy face to the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be stretched out: and thou shalt prophesy against it.

8 And lo! I have laid upon thee-bands, —and thou shalt not turn thee from thy one side to thine other, until thou have ended the days of thy siege.

Behold I have encompassed thee with bands: and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

9 Thou, therefore, take thee wheat and barley and peas and lentils and millet and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make them ready for thee as bread, —during the number of days which thou art lying on thy side. a hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat it;

And take to thee wheat and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side: three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

10 and thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight twenty shekels a day, — from time to time, shalt thou eat it;

And thy meat that thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day: from time to time thou shalt eat it.

11 and water by measure, shalt thou drink the sixth part of a hin, -from time to time shalt thou drink;

And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it,

12 and as a barley cake, shalt thou eat it, —and the same with dung proceeding from man, shalt thou bake, before their eyes.

And thou shalt eat it as barley bread baked under the ashes: and thou shalt cover it, in their sight, with the dung that cometh out of a man.

13 Then said Yahweh, In like manner, shall the sons of Israel eat their bread defiled, —among the nations whither I will drive them.

And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel Beat their bread all filthy among the nations whither I will cast them out.

14 Then said, I, Ah! My Lord. Yahweh, lo! my person, hath not been defiled: neither of what hath died of itself nor of what hath been torn in pieces: have I eaten, from my youthful days even unto now, neither hath come into my mouth the flesh of a foul thing.

And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, behold my soul hath not been defiled, and from my infancy even till now, I have not eaten any thing that died of itself, or was torn by beasts, and no unclean flesh hath entered into my mouth.

15 So then he said unto me, See I have granted thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, —and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereupon.

And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.

16 And he said unto me, Son of man Behold me! breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, So shall they eat bread by weight and with anxious care, And water by measure, and in astonishment, shall they drink:

And he said to me: Son of man: Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.

17 that they may lack bread and water and be astonished one with another, and pine away in their punishment.

So that when bread and water fail, every man may fall against his brother, and they may pine away in their iniquities.