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.

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it 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 lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant 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.

And take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be 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.

Moreover lie thou 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.

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 appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou 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 again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.

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.

And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.

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 lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy 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.

Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, 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, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.

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

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

And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.

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

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 Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither 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 Jehovah! 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 of beasts; neither came there 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 unto me, See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.

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 unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:

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.

that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.