Ezekiel

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

1God said, "Now you, son of man, take a clay brick. Set it down in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it."

2And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

2"Then act out an attack on it. Build a wall around it, pile up a ramp, set up camps against it, and put battering rams all around it."

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

3"Then take an iron plate and stand it up like an iron wall between you and the city. Face the city. It is under attack, and you are the one attacking it. This is a sign for the people of Israel."

4Lie thou also 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.

4"Then lie down on your left side, and take the guilt of the people of Israel onto yourself. You will carry their guilt for as many days as you lie there."

5For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

5"I have given you 390 days, one day for each year of their guilt. That is how long you will carry the guilt of the people of Israel."

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

6"When those days are over, lie down again, this time on your right side. Then carry the guilt of the people of Judah for forty days. I have given you one day for each year."

7Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.

7"Turn your face toward Jerusalem under attack, with your sleeve pushed back and your arm bare. Then speak my words against the city."

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

8"Listen: I will tie you with ropes so you cannot roll from one side to the other until the days of your siege are finished."

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

9"Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them all in one pot and make bread from them. That is what you will eat during the 390 days you lie on your side."

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

10"Weigh out your food, twenty shekels a day, and eat it at set times each day."

NoteTwenty shekels was a weight of about eight ounces, or roughly 230 grams. That is a very small amount of food for a whole day.

11Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

11"Measure out your water too, a sixth of a hin, and drink it at set times each day."

NoteA hin was a container for liquid. A sixth of a hin was a little over half a quart, or about two thirds of a liter, of water for the day.

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

12"Eat the food like a barley cake. Bake it over dried human waste while the people watch."

13And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.

13Then the LORD said, "That is how the people of Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I will send them."

14Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! 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 in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

14Then I said, "Oh, Lord GOD! I have never made myself unclean. Since I was young I have never eaten an animal that died on its own or was killed by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever gone into my mouth."

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

15Then he said to me, "All right. I will let you use cow dung instead of human waste. Bake your bread over that."

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 care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

16Then he said to me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. People will eat bread weighed out to them, and they will be afraid. They will drink water measured out to them, and they will be in despair."

17That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

17"They will run out of food and water. They will look at each other in horror as they slowly waste away because of their sin."

NoteThe King James Version says the people will "want" bread and water and be "astonied." In 1611 "want" meant to lack or run out of something, and "astonied" meant stunned or horrified.