Ezekiel 4

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 "And you, *See ch. 2:1son of man, *[ver. 3; Jer. 13:1,2]take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 *[2 Kgs. 25:1] And put siegeworks against it, *ch. 17:17;21:22;26:8and build a siege wall against it, *Luke 19:43and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, *ch. 21:22;26:9and 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; *See ch. 21:2and set your face toward it, *[Isa. 29:3] and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is *ch. 12:6,11;24:24,27;[Isa. 8:18;20:3]a sign for the house of Israel.

4 "Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment*4:4 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, *ch. 44:10,12;[Lev. 16:22;Isa. 53:11,12]you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, *ver. 9390 days, *[Num. 14:34] equal to the number of the years of their punishment. *[See ver. 4above] So long shall you bear *[ch. 23:4,9,10]the 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 *ch. 44:10,12;[Lev. 16:22;Isa. 53:11,12] bear *[ch. 23:11,12] the punishment of the house of Judah. *[Num. 14:34]Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 *See ch. 21:2And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, *Isa. 52:10with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, *ch. 3:25I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed *[ver. 9; ch. 5:2]; See 2 Kgs. 25:1-3;Jer. 39:1,2;52:4-6the days of your siege.

9 "And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,*4:9 A type of wheat and put them into a single vessel and make your *[1 Kgs. 22:27] bread from them. *See ver. 8During the number of days that you lie on your side, *ver. 5390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be *ch. 12:19;[Jer. 37:21] by weight, *ch. 45:12twenty shekels*4:10 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams a day; from day to day*4:10 Or at a set time daily; also verse 11 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink *[See ver. 10above]by measure, the sixth part of a hin;*4:11 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 *See ch. 12:3in their sight on human dung." 13 And the Lord said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat *Hos. 9:3;[Dan. 1:8]their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them." 14 Then I said, *ch. 9:8;11:13;20:49"Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself.*4:14 Hebrew my soul (or throat) has never been made unclean*[Acts 10:14] From my youth up till now I have never eaten *ch. 44:31;[Lev. 7:24] what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has *Isa. 65:4;[Lev. 7:18]tainted 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, *See ch. 2:1"Son of man, behold, *ch. 5:16;14:13;Lev. 26:26I will break the supply*4:16 Hebrew staff of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread *[See ver. 10above]by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water *[See ver. 10above]by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and *See ch. 3:15look at one another in dismay, and *ch. 24:23;33:10;Lev. 26:39rot away because of their punishment.