Ezekiel 4

1Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:

1Now, son of man, take a clay brick, put it in front of you, and draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it.

2and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about.

2Then set up a model of a siege against it: build a siege wall, heap up a dirt ramp, set up army camps, and place battering rams all around it.

3And take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

3Next, take an iron griddle and place it like an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward the city as if you are attacking it, and it will be under siege. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

4Moreover lie thou 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.

4Then lie down on your left side and place the sin of the people of Israel on yourself. You will carry their guilt for the number of days you lie on your side.

5For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

5I have assigned you one day for each year of their sin. For three hundred and ninety days, you will carry the guilt of the house of Israel.

6And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.

6After you have finished those days, lie down again, but this time on your right side. You will carry the guilt of the house of Judah for forty days. I have assigned you one day for each year.

7And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.

7Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and bare your arm to prophesy against it.

8And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.

8I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.

9Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, 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, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.

9Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one bowl and make them into bread for yourself. This is what you will eat during the three hundred and ninety days you lie on your side.

10And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

10You must weigh out your food and eat only eight ounces each day; eat it at set times.

11And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

11Also, measure out your water and drink only about a quart each day; drink it at set times.

12And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.

12Eat your food as you would a barley cake. You must bake it in front of the people, using dried human waste for fuel.

13And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.

13The LORD said, 'This is how the Israelites will eat contaminated food among the nations where I will scatter them.'

14Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

14But I said, 'Oh, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From my childhood until now, I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever entered my mouth.'

15Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.

15Then he said to me, 'Fine, I will let you use cow dung instead of human waste to bake your bread.'

16Moreover 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 fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:

16He also said to me, 'Son of man, I am going to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will weigh their bread and eat it with great anxiety; they will measure their water and drink it in total despair.

17that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

17Because bread and water will be scarce, they will look at one another in shock and waste away because of their sins.'