The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “And you, rson of man, stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 tAnd put siegeworks against it, uand build a siege wall against it, vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, wand plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; xand set your face toward it, yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is za sign for the house of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment1 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, b390 days, cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. aSo long shall you bear dthe punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ebear fthe punishment of the house of Judah. gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, iwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed kthe days of your siege.

9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,2 and put them into a single vessel and make your lbread from them. mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, n390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be oby weight, ptwenty shekels3 a day; from day to day4 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;5 from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it qin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, s“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.6 tFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten uwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has vtainted meat come into my mouth.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, w“Son of man, behold, xI will break the supply7 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread oby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water oby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ylook at one another in dismay, and zrot away because of their punishment.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

5 “And you, aO son of man, take a bsharp sword. Use it as ca barber’s razor and dpass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 eA third part you shall burn in the fire fin the midst of the city, gwhen the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. hAnd a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and iI will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 jAnd you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 kAnd of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

5 “Thus says the Lord God: lThis is Jerusalem. I have set her min the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness nmore than the nations, and against my statutes more than mthe countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are omore turbulent than the nations that are all around you, pand have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, qand have not1 even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ram against you. sAnd I will execute judgments2 in your midst tin the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you uwhat I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore vfathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. sAnd I will execute judgments on you, wand any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, xas I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ybecause you have defiled my sanctuary zwith all your detestable things and with all your aabominations, btherefore I will withdraw.3 cMy eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 dA third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; da third part shall fall by the sword all around you; dand a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

13 e“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that fI am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—ewhen I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you ga desolation and han object of reproach among ithe nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be4 a reproach and a taunt, a warning jand a horror, to ithe nations all around you, kwhen I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and lwith furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you5 mthe deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon nyou and break your supply6 of bread. 17 I will send famine and owild beasts against you, pand they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and qblood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”