Ezekiel 4

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1“And you, ason of man, btake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 cAnd put siegeworks against it, dand build a siege wall against it, eand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, fand 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; gand set your face toward it, hand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ia sign for the house of Israel.

4Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment
Or iniquity; also verses 5, 6, 17
of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, kyou shall bear their punishment.
5For I assign to you a number of days, l390 days, mequal to the number of the years of their punishment. nSo long shall you bear othe 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 pbear qthe punishment of the house of Judah. rForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 sAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, twith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8And behold, uI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed vthe days of your siege.

9“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,
A type of wheat
and put them into a single vessel and make your xbread from them. yDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, z390 days, you shall eat it.
10And your food that you eat shall be aaby weight, abtwenty shekels
A  shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
a day; from day to day
Or at a set time daily; also verse 11
you shall eat it.
11And water you shall drink aeby measure, the sixth part of a hin;
A  hin was about 4 quarts or 3.5 liters
from day to day you shall drink.
12And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it agin their sight on human dung.” 13And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ahtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14Then I said, aiAh, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.
Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean
akFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten alwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has amtainted meat come into my mouth.”
15Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16Moreover, he said to me, anSon of man, behold, aoI will break the supply
Hebrew staff
of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread aqby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water arby measure and in dismay.
17I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and aslook at one another in dismay, and atrot away because of their punishment.

Copyright information for ESV