Ezekiel 4:1–12

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. ^2tAnd 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. ³And 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. ⁵For 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. ⁶And 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. ^7hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ⁱwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. ⁸And 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. ¹⁰And your food that you eat shall be ^oby weight, ^ptwenty shekels³ a day; from day to day⁴ you shall eat it. ¹¹And water you shall drink ^oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;⁵ from day to day you shall drink. ¹²And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^qin their sight on human dung.”