Ezekiel 4

Ominous Object Lessons

4:1 “And you, son of man, take a brick¹ and set it in front of you. Inscribe² a city on it – Jerusalem. 4:2 Lay siege to it! Build siege works against it. Erect a siege ramp³ against it! Post soldiers outside it⁴ and station battering rams around it. 4:3 Then for your part take an iron frying pan⁵ and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face toward it. It is to be under siege; you are to besiege it. This is a sign⁶ for the house of Israel.

4:4 “Also for your part lie on your left side and place the iniquity⁷ of the house of Israel on it. For the number of days you lie on your side you will bear their iniquity. 4:5 I have determined that the number of the years of their iniquity are to be the number of days⁸ for you – 390 days.⁹ So bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.¹⁰

4:6 “When you have completed these days, then lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah 40 days¹¹ – I have assigned one day for each year. 4:7 You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it. 4:8 Look here, I will tie you up with ropes, so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you complete the days of your siege.¹²

4:9 “As for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt,¹³ put them in a single container, and make food¹⁴ from them for yourself. For the same number of days that you lie on your side – 390 days¹⁵ – you will eat it. 4:10 The food you eat will be eight ounces¹⁶ a day by weight; you must eat it at fixed¹⁷ times. 4:11 And you must drink water by measure, a pint and a half;¹⁸ you must drink it at fixed times. 4:12 And you must eat the food like you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of them over a fire made with dried human excrement.”¹⁹ 4:13 And the Lord said, “This is how the people of Israel will eat their unclean food among the nations²⁰ where I will banish them.”

4:14 And I said, “Ah, sovereign Lord, I have never been ceremonially defiled before. I have never eaten a carcass or an animal torn by wild beasts; from my youth up, unclean meat²¹ has never entered my mouth.”

4:15 So he said to me, “All right then, I will substitute cow’s manure instead of human excrement. You will cook your food over it.”

4:16 Then he said to me, “Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply²² in Jerusalem.²³ They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror 4:17 because they will lack bread and water. Each one will be terrified, and they will rot for their iniquity.²⁴

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