Ezekiel 4–6

¹‘And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city—Jerusalem, ²and hast placed against it a siege, and builded against it a fortification, and poured out against it a mount, and placed against it camps, yea, set thou against it battering-rams round about. ³And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it is to the house of Israel.

⁴‘And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity. ⁵And I—I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel. ⁶And thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days—a day for a year—a day for a year I have appointed to thee.

⁷‘And unto the siege of Jerusalem thou dost prepare thy face, and thine arm is uncovered, and thou hast prophesied concerning it. ⁸And lo, I have put on thee thick bands, and thou dost not turn from side to side till thy completing the days of thy siege.

⁹‘And thou, take to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and thou hast put them in one vessel, and made them to thee for bread; the number of the days that thou art lying on thy side—three hundred and ninety days—thou dost eat it. ¹⁰And thy food that thou dost eat is by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time thou dost eat it.

¹¹‘And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink it. ¹²A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung—the filth of man—thou dost bake before their eyes. ¹³And Jehovah saith, ‘Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.’ ¹⁴And I say, ‘Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.’ ¹⁵And He saith unto me, ‘See, I have given to thee bullock’s dung instead of man’s dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.’ ¹⁶And He saith unto me, ‘Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink; ¹⁷so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished one with another, and been consumed in their iniquity.

Chapter 5

¹‘And thou, son of man, take to thee a sharp weapon, the barber’s razor thou dost take to thee, and thou hast caused it to pass over thy head, and over thy beard, and thou hast taken to thee weighing scales, and apportioned them. ²A third part with fire thou dost burn in the midst of the city, at the fulness of the days of the siege; and thou hast taken the third part, thou dost smite with a weapon round about it; and the third part thou dost scatter to the wind, and a weapon I draw out after them. ³And thou hast taken thence a few in number—and hast bound them in thy skirts; ⁴and of them thou dost take again, and hast cast them unto the midst of the fire, and hast burned them in the fire—out of it cometh forth a fire unto all the house of Israel.

⁵Thus said the Lord Jehovah: this is Jerusalem, In the midst of the nations I have set her, And round about her are the lands. ⁶And she changeth My judgments into wickedness more than the nations, And My statutes more than the lands that are round about her, For against My judgments they have kicked, And My statutes—they have not walked in them. ⁷Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your multiplying above the nations that are around you, In My statutes ye have not walked, And My judgments ye have not done, According to the judgments of the nations That are round about you ye have not done. ⁸Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am against thee, even I, And I have done in thy midst judgments, Before the eyes of the nations. ⁹And I have done in thee that which I have not done, And that which I do not its like again, Because of all thine abominations. ¹⁰Therefore fathers do eat sons in thy midst, And sons eat their fathers, And I have done in thee judgments, And have scattered all thy remnant to every wind. ¹¹Therefore, I live—an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah: Because My sanctuary thou hast defiled, With all thy detestable things, And with all thine abominations, Mine eye pitieth not, and I also spare not. Do not even I also diminish? ¹²Thy third part—by pestilence they die, And by famine are consumed in thy midst, And the third part, by sword they fall round about thee, And the third part, to every wind I scatter, And a sword I draw out after them. ¹³And completed hath been Mine anger, And I have caused My fury to rest on them, And I have been comforted, And they have known that I, Jehovah, have spoken in My zeal, In My completing My fury on them. ¹⁴And I give thee for a waste, And for a reproach among nations that are round about thee, Before the eyes of every passer by. ¹⁵And it hath been a reproach and a reviling, An instruction and an astonishment, To nations that are round about thee, In My doing in thee judgments, In anger and fury, and in furious reproofs, I, Jehovah, have spoken. ¹⁶In My sending the evil arrows of famine among them, That have been for destruction, That I send to destroy you, And famine I am adding upon you, And I have broken to you the staff of bread. ¹⁷And I have sent on you famine and evil beasts, And they have bereaved thee, And pestilence and blood pass over on thee, And a sword I do bring in against thee, I, Jehovah, have spoken!’

Chapter 6

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: ²‘Son of man, set thy face unto mountains of Israel, and prophesy concerning them: ³And thou hast said: Mountains of Israel, Hear ye a word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah To the mountains, and to the hills, To the streams, and to the valleys, Lo, I, I am bringing in against you a sword, And I have destroyed your high places. ⁴And desolated have been your altars, And broken your images, And I have caused your wounded to fall before your idols, ⁵And put the carcases of the sons of Israel before their idols, And scattered your bones round about your altars. ⁶In all your dwellings the cities are laid waste, And the high places are desolate, So that waste and desolate are your altars, And broken and ceased have your idols, And cut down have been your images, And blotted out have been your works. ⁷And fallen hath the wounded in your midst, And ye have known that I am Jehovah.

⁸And I have caused some to remain, In their being to you the escaped of the sword among nations, In your being scattered through lands. ⁹And remembered Me have your escaped among nations, Whither they have been taken captive, Because I have been broken with their heart that is going a-whoring, That hath turned aside from off Me, And with their eyes they are going a-whoring after their idols, And they have been loathsome in their own faces, For the evils that they have done—all their abominations. ¹⁰And they have known that I am Jehovah, Not for nought have I spoken to do to them this evil.

¹¹Thus said the Lord Jehovah: ‘Smite with thy palm, and stamp with thy foot, And say: Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, Who by sword, by famine, and by pestilence do fall. ¹²The far-off by pestilence dieth, And the near by sword falleth, And the left and the besieged by famine dieth, And I have completed my fury upon them. ¹³And ye have known that I am Jehovah, In their wounded being in the midst of their idols, Round about their altars, On every high hill, on all tops of mountains, And under every green tree, and under every thick oak, The place where they gave sweet fragrance to all their idols. ¹⁴And I have stretched out my hand against them, And have made the land a desolation, Even a desolation from the wilderness to Diblath, In all their dwellings, And they have known that I am Jehovah!’

Chapter 7