Ezekiel 4

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. ^2aLay 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. ³Moreover 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. ⁵For 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. ⁶And 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. ^8fAnd 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. ¹⁰And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. ¹¹You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink. ¹²And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”

¹³Then the Lord said, “So ^gshall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”

¹⁴So 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.”

¹⁵Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”

¹⁶Moreover 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, ¹⁷that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and ⁿwaste away because of their iniquity.