Ezekiel 4
The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
“And you, ason of man, btake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 aAnd put siegeworks against it, band build a siege wall against it, cand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, dand 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; aand set your face toward it, band let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ca sign for the house of Israel.
4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, a390 days, bequal to the number of the years of their punishment. cSo long shall you bear dthe 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 abear bthe punishment of the house of Judah. cForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 aAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, bwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, aI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed bthe days of your siege.
9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your abread from them. bDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, c390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be aby weight, btwenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink aby measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ain their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat atheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.” 14 Then I said, a“Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. bFrom my youth up till now I have never eaten cwhat died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has dtainted 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, a“Son of man, behold, bI will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread cby weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water cby measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and alook at one another in dismay, and brot away because of their punishment.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway,
a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.