Ezekiel, 4

1. 'For your part, son of man, take a brick and lay it in front of you; on it scratch a city, Jerusalem.

1. "And you, O son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem;

2. You are then to besiege it, trench round it, build earthworks, pitch camps and bring up battering-rams all round.

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

3. Then take an iron pan and place it as though it were an iron wall between you and the city. Then fix your gaze on it; it is being besieged and you are besieging it. This is a sign for the House of Israel.

3. And take an iron plate, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

4. 'Lie down on your left side and take the guilt of the House of Israel on yourself. You will bear their guilt for as many days as you lie on that side.

4. "Then lie upon your left side, and I will lay the punishment of the house of Israel upon you; for the number of the days that you lie upon it, you shall bear their punishment.

5. Allowing one day for every year of their guilt, I ordain that you bear it for three hundred and ninety days; this is how you will bear the House of Israel's guilt.

5. For I assign to you a number of days, three hundred and ninety days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment; so long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.

6. And when you have finished doing this, you are to lie down again, on your right side, and bear the guilt of the House of Judah for forty days. I have set the length for you as one day for one year.

6. And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah; forty days I assign you, a day for each year.

7. Then fix your gaze on the siege of Jerusalem, raise your bared arm and prophesy against her.

7. And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared; and you shall prophesy against the city.

8. Look, I am going to tie you up and you will not be able to turn over from one side to the other until the period of your seclusion is over.

8. And, behold, I will put cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.

9. 'Now take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put them all in the same pot and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it for as many days as you are lying on your side -- three hundred and ninety days.

9. "And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt, and put them into a single vessel, and make bread of them. During the number of days that you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.

10. Of this food, you are to weigh out a daily portion of twenty shekels and eat it a little piece at a time.

10. And the food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; once a day you shall eat it.

11. And you are to ration the water you drink -- a sixth of a hin -- drinking that a little at a time.

11. And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; once a day you shall drink.

12. You are to eat this in the form of a barley cake baked where they can see you, on human dung.'

12. And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung."

13. And Yahweh said, 'This is how the Israelites will have to eat their defiled food, wherever I disperse them among the nations.'

13. And the LORD said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them."

14. I then said, 'Lord Yahweh, my soul is not defiled. From my childhood until now, I have never eaten an animal that has died a natural death or been savaged; no tainted meat has ever entered my mouth.'

14. Then I said, "Ah Lord GOD! behold, I have never defiled myself; from my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has foul flesh come into my mouth."

15. 'Very well,' he said, 'I grant you cow-dung instead of human dung; you are to bake your bread on that.'

15. Then he said to me, "See, I will let you have cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread."

16. He then said, 'Son of man, I am going to cut off Jerusalem's food supply; in their extremity, the food they eat will be weighed out; to their horror, the water they drink will be rationed,

16. Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

17. until there is no food or water left, and they fall into a stupor and waste away because of their guilt.'

17. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and waste away under their punishment.