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

And you, son of man, take a tile and lay it before you, and make upon it a drawing of a city, even Jerusalem.

2 T hen 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.

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

3 T hen 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.

Moreover, take a plate of iron and place it for an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it and it shall be besieged, and you shall press the siege against it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

4 “ 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.

Then lie upon your left side to bear symbolically the iniquity of the house of the ten tribes of Israel upon that side. According to the number of days that you shall lie upon it you shall bear their iniquity.

5 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.

For I have laid upon you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, 390 days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6 W hen 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.

And when you have fulfilled the days for Israel, lie again, but on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have appointed you one day for each year.

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

Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against.

8 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.

And, behold, I will lay bands upon you and you shall not turn yourself from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.

9 “ 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.

Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them into one vessel and make bread of them. According to the number of the days that you shall lie upon your side, 390 days you shall eat of it.

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

And the food you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels or a full half pound a day, to be eaten at a fixed time each day.

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

You shall drink water by measure also, about one quart or the sixth part of a hin; you shall drink at a fixed time each day.

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

And you shall eat your food as barley cakes and you shall bake it with human dung as fuel in the sight of the people.

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

And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the nations to whom I will drive them.

14 B ut 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.”

Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dies of itself or is torn in pieces; neither did there ever come abominable flesh into my mouth.

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

Then He said to me, Behold, I will let you use cow’s dung instead of human dung, and you shall prepare your food with it.

16 A nd 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

Moreover, He said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread rationed by weight and with fearfulness, and they shall drink water rationed by measure and with dismay (silent, speechless grief caused by the impending starvation),

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

In order that they may lack bread and water and look at one another in dismay and waste away for their iniquity.