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

“Now, son of man, get a hard clay block. Set it down in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

2 a nd 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.

Then build a battle-wall around it to shut it in, and build a hill of dirt against the wall. Cut down trees and lay them on wheels all around the city, to use for breaking down the walls.

3 A nd take 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 for an encompassment, and thou shalt lay siege against the city. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Then get an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city, and turn your face toward it. It will be shut in, and you will fight a battle against it. This will be something special for the people of Israel to see.

4 T hou shalt sleep 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.

“Then lie on your left side, and I will lay the sin of the people of Israel upon you. You will be under the weight of their sin for the number of days that you lie on your side.

5 F or I have summed up for 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.

I have set a number of days for you which is the same as the number of years of their sin, 390 days. This is how long you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Israel.

6 A nd when thou hast accomplished them, thou shalt sleep on thy right side this second time, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: a day for a year; I have appointed thee each day for a year.

When you have completed these, you must lie down a second time, but on your right side. And you must be under the weight of the sin of the people of Judah. I have set a time of forty days for you to do this, one day for each year.

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

Then you must turn your face toward the battle against Jerusalem with no covering on your arm, and tell what will happen against the city.

8 A nd, behold, I laced bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn from one side to another until thou hast ended the days appointed thee upon thy sides.

I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, until you have completed the days of your battle.

9 ¶ Take also unto thee wheat and barley and beans and lentils 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.

“Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt and put them in one pot, and make them into bread for yourself. Eat it during the 390 days that you lie on your side.

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

The food you eat each day will weigh as much as twenty pieces of silver, and will have to last until the next day.

11 T hou shalt also drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from time to time shalt thou drink.

And the water you drink each day will be enough to fill a bottle. You will drink it from time to time.

12 A nd thou shalt eat barley cakes baked under the ashes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that comes out of man, in their sight.

Eat your food as you would barley cakes, making it ready in front of their eyes over a fire burning human waste.”

13 A nd the LORD said, Even thus shall the sons of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.

The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat unclean food among the nations where I will drive them.”

14 T hen said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul is not defiled: for from my youth up even until now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither has abominable flesh come into my mouth.

But I said, “O Lord God! See, I have never been unclean. Since I was young until now, I have never eaten what died of itself or what was torn by wild animals. No unclean meat has ever come into my mouth.”

15 T hen he said unto me, Behold, I give thee cow’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread with it.

So He said to me, “Then I will let you make your bread over cow’s waste instead of human waste.”

16 M oreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the sustenance of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anguish; and they shall drink water by measure, and with terror.

And He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to take away the bread that is needed in Jerusalem. They will weigh the bread they eat and they will drink water from small cups, and be afraid

17 F or they shall lack bread and water, and terrorize one another, and faint because of their iniquity.

because there will not be enough bread and water. They will look at one another in fear, and waste away in their sin.