(4:1-3) God tells Ezekiel to make a clay model of Jerusalem, complete with a fort, camp, and battering ram, and an iron pan
for a wall around the city. Ezekiel's clay model and iron pan will be a sign to everyone in Israel.
(4:1) "Son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it ... Jerusalem."
(4:2) "And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it ... set the camp also against it,
and set battering rams against it round about."
(4:3) "Moreover take ... an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city ... This shall be a sign to the house of Israel."
4:1
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee,
and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
4:2And 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.
4:3Moreover 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.
4:4Lie 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.
(4:4-8) God makes Ezekiel lay on his right side for 390 days, and
then on his left side for another 40 days. "And thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another,
till thou hast ended the days."
(4:4-5) "Lie thou also upon thy left side ... three hundred and ninety days."
(4:6) "And ... lie again on thy right side ... forty days"
(4:8) "Behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days."
4:5
For 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.
4:6And 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.
4:7
Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine
arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
4:8
And, 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.
4:9Take 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.
(4:9) "Take 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." Ezekiel
4:9 bread
It's supposed to be made according to the recipe given in this verse and is said to
be a complete meal that satisfies all nutritional requirements. It seems like pretty good bread to me, too, but I'll bet it doesn't use the
procedure described in Ezekiel 4:12.
4:10
And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a
day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
4:11
Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from
time to time shalt thou drink.
4:12And thou shalt eat it
as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of
man, in their sight.
(4:12) "Thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man."
(4:15) "Then he [God] said unto me [Ezekiel], Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung,
and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith."
(4:16-17) God punishes everyone in Israel with a drought and famine.
(4:16) "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem."
(4:17) " That they may want bread and water."
4:13
And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their
defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
4:14
Then 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.
4:15 Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare
thy bread therewith.
4:16
Moreover 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:
4:17That they may want bread and water, and be astonished one with another, and
consume away for their iniquity.