Ezekiel4

Ezekiel is commanded to perform symbolic acts demonstrating Jerusalem's impending siege and the iniquity of Israel and Judah. He portrays the city under siege on a tile and then lies on his left side for 390 days and his right for 40, symbolizing the years of their sin. Furthermore, he is instructed to eat a meager, defiled bread, initially baked with human dung (later changed to cow's dung), and drink measured water. These acts serve as a stark prophecy of judgment, famine, and defilement for Jerusalem and its inhabitants.

The Symbolic Siege of Jerusalem

1
`And thou, son of man, take to thee a brick, and thou hast put it before thee, and hast graven on it a city--Jerusalem,
2
and hast placed against it a siege, and builded against it a fortification, and poured out against it a mount, and placed against it camps, yea, set thou against it battering-rams round about.
3
And thou, take to thee an iron pan, and thou hast made it a wall of iron between thee and the city; and thou hast prepared thy face against it, and it hath been in a siege, yea, thou hast laid siege against it. A sign it is to the house of Israel.

Bearing the Sins of Israel and Judah

4
`And thou, lie on thy left side, and thou hast placed the iniquity of the house of Israel on it; the number of the days that thou liest on it, thou bearest their iniquity.
5
And I--I have laid on thee the years of their iniquity, the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; and thou hast borne the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6
And thou hast completed these, and hast lain on thy right side, a second time, and hast borne the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days--a day for a year--a day for a year I have appointed to thee.
7
`And unto the siege of Jerusalem thou dost prepare thy face, and thine arm is uncovered, and thou hast prophesied concerning it.
8
And lo, I have put on thee thick bands, and thou dost not turn from side to side till thy completing the days of thy siege.

Bread of Famine and Defilement

9
`And thou, take to thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and spelt, and thou hast put them in one vessel, and made them to thee for bread; the number of the days that thou art lying on thy side--three hundred and ninety days--thou dost eat it.
10
And thy food that thou dost eat is by weight, twenty shekels daily; from time to time thou dost eat it.
11
`And water by measure thou dost drink, a sixth part of the hin; from time to time thou dost drink it .
12
A barley-cake thou dost eat it, and it with dung--the filth of man--thou dost bake before their eyes.
13
And Jehovah saith, `Thus do the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations whither I drive them.'
14
And I say, `Ah, Lord Jehovah, lo, my soul is not defiled, and carcase, and torn thing, I have not eaten from my youth, even till now; nor come into my mouth hath abominable flesh.'
15
And He saith unto me, `See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'

The Severity of the Coming Famine

16
And He saith unto me, `Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;
17
so that they lack bread and water, and have been astonished one with another, and been consumed in their iniquity.
Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options