Ezekiel 4:1–17
The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
4 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 aLay siege against it, build a bsiege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be cbesieged, and you shall lay siege against it. dThis will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; eso you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
7 “Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. 8 fAnd surely I will 1restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.
9 “Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. 11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”
13 Then the Lord said, “So gshall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”
14 So I said, h“Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten iwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has jabominable 2flesh ever come into my mouth.”
15 Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the ksupply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall leat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall mdrink water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and nwaste away because of their iniquity.
Ezekiel 21:1–22:31
21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 a“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, bpreach 1against the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am cagainst you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both drighteous and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you, therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh efrom south to north, 5 that all flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn My sword out of its sheath; it fshall not return anymore.” ’ 6 gSigh therefore, son of man, with 2a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, hall hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.”
8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say:
i‘A sword, a sword is sharpened
And also polished!
10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!
Should we then make mirth?
It despises the scepter of My son,
As it does all wood.
11 And He has given it to be polished,
That it may be handled;
This sword is sharpened, and it is polished
To be given into the hand of jthe slayer.’
For it will be against My people,
Against all the princes of Israel.
Terrors including the sword will be against My people;
Therefore kstrike your thigh.
13 “Because it is la testing,
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
mThe scepter shall be no more,”
says the Lord God.
14 “You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And nstrike your hands together.
The third time let the sword do double damage.
It is the sword that slays,
The sword that slays the great men,
That enters their oprivate chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That the heart may melt and many may stumble.
Ah! pIt is made bright;
It is grasped for slaughter:
Thrust right!
Set your blade!
Thrust left—
Wherever your 4edge is ordered!
17 “I also will rbeat My fists together,
And sI will cause My fury to rest;
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 19 “And son of man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city. 20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to tRabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah, into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he consults the 5images, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to ulift the voice with shouting, vto set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those who whave sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.
24 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.
25 ‘Now to you, O xprofane, wicked prince of Israel, ywhose day has come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord God:
“Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
zExalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
27 6Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
aIt shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to bHim.” ’
28 “And you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God cconcerning the Ammonites and concerning their reproach,’ and say:
‘A sword, a sword is drawn,
Polished for slaughter,
For consuming, for flashing—
29 While they dsee false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain
eWhose day has come,
Whose iniquity shall end.
30 ‘Return fit to its sheath.
gI will judge you
In the place where you were created,
hIn the land of your 7nativity.
31 I will ipour out My indignation on you;
I will jblow against you with the fire of My wrath,
And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to kdestroy.
32 You shall be fuel for the fire;
Your blood shall be in the midst of the land.
lYou shall not be remembered,
For I the Lord have spoken.’ ”
22 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Now, son of man, awill you judge, will you judge bthe bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3 Then say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “The city sheds cblood in her own midst, …