< 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.
“You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even 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.
Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around.
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.
Take for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face towards it. It will be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be 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.
“Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear 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.
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days. So you shall 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.
“Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have appointed forty days, each day for a year, to you.
7 Thus then unto the siege of Jerusalem, shalt thou direct thy face, with thine arm made bare, —so shalt thou prophesy against it.
You shall set your face towards the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall 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 put ropes on you, and you shall not turn yourself from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your 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;
“Take for yourself also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel. Make bread of it. According to the number of the days that you will lie on your side, even three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat of it.
10 and thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight twenty shekels a day, — from time to time, shalt thou eat it;
Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day. From time to time you shall eat it.
11 and water by measure, shalt thou drink the sixth part of a hin, -from time to time shalt thou drink;
You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. From time to time you shall drink.
12 and as a barley cake, shalt thou eat it, —and the same with dung proceeding from man, shalt thou bake, before their eyes.
You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of 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.
The LORD said, “Even thus will the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, amongst the nations where I will drive them.”
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.
Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals. No abominable meat has come 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.
Then he said to me, “Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you shall prepare your bread on it.”
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:
Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay;
17 that they may lack bread and water and be astonished one with another, and pine away in their punishment.
that they may lack bread and water, be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

< Ezekiel 4 >