Ezekiel 4
The LORD commands Ezekiel to act out the siege of Jerusalem on a clay tablet. He is to lie on his left side 390 days for Israel's iniquity and 40 days on his right side for Judah's, eating rationed bread baked over dung as a sign of the famine to come.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: | "You, Son of man — take a clay tablet and set it in front of You. Draw the city of Jerusalem on it." |
| 2 | And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. | "Then put siege works against it. Build a siege wall. Raise up a ramp against it. Set up camps around it and put battering rams against it on every side." |
| 3 | Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. | "Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between You and the city. Turn Your face toward it, and it will be under siege. Press the siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel." |
| 4 | Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. | "Then lie on Your left side and put the iniquity of the house of Israel on Yourself. For the number of days You lie on it, You will bear their iniquity." |
| 5 | For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. | "I have assigned You one day for each year of their iniquity — 390 days. That is how long You will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel." |
| 6 | And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year. | "When You have finished that, lie down again on Your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah for forty days. I have assigned You one day for each year." |
| 7 | Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it. | "Turn Your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with Your arm bared, and prophesy against it." |
| 8 | And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege. | "I will tie You with ropes so You cannot turn from one side to the other until You have finished the days of Your siege." |
| 9 | Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof. | "Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in one container and make bread for Yourself. Eat it during the 390 days You lie on Your side." |
| 10 | And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it. | "Eat it by weight — twenty shekels a day — measuring it out at set times." |
| 11 | Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink. | "You will also drink water by measure — one sixth of a hin — drinking it at set times." |
| 12 | And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight. | "Eat it like a barley cake and bake it over human dung in their sight." |
| 13 | And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them. | The LORD said, "This is how the children of Israel will eat their defiled bread among the nations where I will drive them." |
| 14 | Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, I have never been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth. | Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything that died on its own or was torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth." |
| 15 | Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith. | He said to me, "Very well. I will let You use cow's dung instead of human dung. Prepare Your bread over that." |
| 16 | Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: | He said to me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight and in anxiety. They will drink water by measure and in despair." |
| 17 | That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity. | "This is so they will lack bread and water. They will be appalled at one another and waste away because of their iniquity." |