Eze 4, Eze 12 | ESV | STEP | And you , son of man , take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city , even Jerusalem .

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. 3 And 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.

4 “Then 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. 5 For 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. 6 And 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. 8 And 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. 10 And 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. 11 And 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. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^agin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^ahtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, ^ai“Ah, 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.” 15 Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” 16 Moreover, he said to me, ^an“Son 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. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and ^aslook at one another in dismay, and ^atrot away because of their punishment.

Ezekiel 12

Judah’s Captivity Symbolized

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^au“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of ^ava rebellious house, ^awwho have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are ^axa rebellious house. 3 As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself ^ayan exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day ^azin their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place ^bain their sight. ^bbPerhaps they will understand, though ^{▼▼Or will see that} they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself ^bdat evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight ^bedig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you ^bfa sign for the house of Israel.”

7 ^bgAnd I did as I was commanded. ^bhI brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 ^bi“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, ^bjthe rebellious house, said to you, ^bk‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns ^{▼▼Or This burden is} ^bmthe prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’ ^{▼▼Hebrew in the midst of them} 11 Say, ^bo‘I am a sign for you: ^bpas I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’ 12 ^bqAnd the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. ^brThey shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. ^bsHe shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. 13 ^btAnd I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And ^buI will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, ^bvyet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. 14 ^bwAnd I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, ^bxand I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15 ^byAnd they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16 ^bzBut I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, ^caand may know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^cb“Son of man, ^cceat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety. 19 And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: ^cdThey shall eat their bread with anxiety, ^ceand drink water in dismay. In this way ^cfher land will be stripped of all it contains, ^cgon account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 ^chAnd the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

21 And the word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, ^ciwhat is this proverb that you ^{▼▼The Hebrew for you is plural} have about the land of Israel, saying, ^ck‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, ^clThe days are near, and the fulfillment ^{▼▼Hebrew word} of every vision. 24 ^cnFor there shall be no more any ^cofalse vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord; I will speak ^cpthe word that I will speak, and it will be performed. ^cqIt will no longer be delayed, but in your days, ^crO rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”

26 And the word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ^cs‘The vision that he sees is ^ctfor many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^cuNone of my words will be delayed any longer, ^cvbut the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”