EzekielChapter 4

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¹"Now, son of man, take a clay brick and put it in front of you. Draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ²Then attack it as an army would. Build a siege wall against it. Build a ramp up to it. Set up army camps around it. Put battering rams all around it. ³Then take an iron pan. Set it up like an iron wall between you and the city. Turn your face toward the city. It is under attack, and you are the one attacking it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel. ⁴Then lie down on your left side. Put the sin of the house of Israel on yourself. You will carry their sin for as many days as you lie on your side. ⁵I have given you 390 days. That is the number of years of their sin. So you will carry the sin of the house of Israel. ⁶When you have finished these days, lie down again. This time lie on your right side. Carry the sin of the house of Judah. I have given you 40 days, one day for each year. ⁷Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem. Keep your arm bare, and prophesy against the city. ⁸Look, I will tie you up with ropes. You will not be able to turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege. ⁹Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in one jar and make bread from them for yourself. This is what you will eat during the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰Weigh out eight ounces of food to eat each day. Eat it at set times.a ¹¹Also measure out about two-thirds of a quart of water to drink. Drink it at set times.b ¹²Eat the food the way you would eat a barley cake. Bake it over dried human dung while the people watch." ¹³Then the LORD said, "This is how the Israelites will eat bread that is unclean. They will eat it among the nations where I will drive them." ¹⁴Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! I have never made myself unclean. From the time I was young until now, I have never eaten anything that was found dead or torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever gone into my mouth." ¹⁵He answered, "All right. I will let you use cow dung instead of human dung. You may bake your bread over that." ¹⁶Then he said to me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will worry as they eat bread measured out by weight. They will be hopeless as they drink water measured out in small amounts. ¹⁷So they will run short of food and water. They will be shocked as they look at one another. They will waste away because of their sin.