Eze 4-5, Eze 12, 24:3-12 | 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 5

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

1 “And you, ^auO son of man, take a ^avsharp sword. Use it as ^awa barber’s razor and ^axpass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 ^ayA third part you shall burn in the fire ^azin the midst of the city, ^bawhen the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^bbAnd a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ^bcI will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 ^bdAnd you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 ^beAnd of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

5 “Thus says the Lord God: ^bfThis is Jerusalem. I have set her ^bgin the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness ^bhmore than the nations, and against my statutes more than ^bithe countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are ^bjmore turbulent than the nations that are all around you, ^bkand have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, ^bland have not ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac lack not} even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, ^bnam against you. ^boAnd I will execute judgments ^{▼▼The same Hebrew expression can mean obey rules, or execute judgments, depending on the context} in your midst ^bqin the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you ^brwhat I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore ^bsfathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. ^btAnd I will execute judgments on you, ^buand any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, ^bvas I live, declares the Lord God, surely, ^bwbecause you have defiled my sanctuary ^bxwith all your detestable things and with all your ^byabominations, ^bztherefore I will withdraw. ^{▼▼Some Hebrew manuscripts I will cut you down} ^cbMy eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 ^ccA third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; ^cda third part shall fall by the sword all around you; ^ceand a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

13 ^cf“Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that ^cgI am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy— ^chwhen I spend my fury upon them. 14 Moreover, I will make you ^cia desolation and ^cjan object of reproach among ^ckthe nations all around you and in the sight of all who pass by. 15 You shall be ^{▼▼Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum; Masoretic Text And it shall be} a reproach and a taunt, a warning ^cmand a horror, to ^cnthe nations all around you, ^cowhen I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and ^cpwith furious rebukes—I am the Lord; I have spoken— 16 when I send against you ^{▼▼Hebrew them} ^crthe deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon ^csyou and break your supply ^{▼▼Hebrew staff} of bread. 17 I will send famine and ^cuwild beasts against you, ^cvand they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and ^cwblood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”

Ezekiel 12

Judah’s Captivity Symbolized

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^cx“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of ^cya rebellious house, ^czwho have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are ^daa rebellious house. 3 As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself ^dban exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day ^dcin their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place ^ddin their sight. ^dePerhaps 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 ^dgat evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight ^dhdig 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 ^dia sign for the house of Israel.”

7 ^djAnd I did as I was commanded. ^dkI 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 ^dl“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, ^dmthe rebellious house, said to you, ^dn‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns ^{▼▼Or This burden is} ^dpthe prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’ ^{▼▼Hebrew in the midst of them} 11 Say, ^dr‘I am a sign for you: ^dsas I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’ 12 ^dtAnd the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. ^duThey shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. ^dvHe shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. 13 ^dwAnd I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And ^dxI will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, ^dyyet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. 14 ^dzAnd I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, ^eaand I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15 ^ebAnd they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16 ^ecBut 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, ^edand may know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^ee“Son of man, ^efeat 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: ^egThey shall eat their bread with anxiety, ^ehand drink water in dismay. In this way ^eiher land will be stripped of all it contains, ^ejon account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 ^ekAnd 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, ^elwhat is this proverb that you ^{▼▼The Hebrew for you is plural} have about the land of Israel, saying, ^en‘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, ^eoThe days are near, and the fulfillment ^{▼▼Hebrew word} of every vision. 24 ^eqFor there shall be no more any ^erfalse vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord; I will speak ^esthe word that I will speak, and it will be performed. ^etIt will no longer be delayed, but in your days, ^euO 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, ^ev‘The vision that he sees is ^ewfor many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^exNone of my words will be delayed any longer, ^eybut the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 24:3-12

3 And ^ezutter a parable to ^fathe rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

“Set on ^fbthe pot, set it on;
pour in water also;
4 put in it the pieces of meat,
all the good pieces, ^fcthe thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs ^{▼▼Compare verse 10; Hebrew the bones} under it;
boil it well;
seethe also its bones in it.
6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^feWoe to the bloody city, to ^ffthe pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice. ^{▼▼Hebrew no lot has fallen upon it} 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ^fhthe bare rock; ^fishe did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! ^fjI also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices, ^{▼▼Or empty out the broth} and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ^flthat its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 ^fmShe has wearied herself with toil; ^{▼▼The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain} its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion!