1 THOU also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
2 And 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.
3 Moreover 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 Lie 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.
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.
6 And 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.
7 Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
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.
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, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.
10 And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
11 Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
12 And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.
13 And the Lord said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.
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.
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.
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:
17 That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

1Thou also sonne of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray vpon it the citie, euen Ierusalem,

2And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it: set the campe also against it, and set battering rammes against it round about.

3Moreouer take thou vnto thee an yron panne, and set it for a wall of yron betweene thee and the city, and set thy face against it, and it shalbe besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: this shalbe a signe to the house of Israel.

4Lie thou also vpon thy left side, and lay the iniquitie of the house of Israel vpon it: according to the number of the dayes that thou shalt lie vpon it, thou shalt beare their iniquitie.

5For I haue layed vpon thee the yeeres of their iniquitie, according to the number of the dayes, three hundreth and ninetie daies. So shalt thou beare the iniquitie of the house of Israel.

6And when thou hast accomplished them, lie againe on thy right side, and thou shalt beare the iniquitie of the house of Iudah fourtie dayes: I haue appointed thee each day for a yeere.

7Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Ierusalem, and thine arme shalbe vncouered, and thou shalt prophecie against it.

8And behold, I wil lay bands vpon thee, and thou shalt not turne thee from one side to an other, till thou hast ended the dayes of thy siege.

9 Take thou also vnto thee wheat, and barley, and beanes, and lentils, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessell, and make thee bread thereof according to the number of the dayes that thou shalt lie vpon thy side; three hundreth and ninetie dayes shalt thou eate thereof.

10And thy meate which thou shalt eat, shalbe by weight twentie shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.

11Thou shalt drinke also water by measure, the sixt part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drinke.

12And thou shalt eate it as barley cakes, & thou shalt bake it with doung that commeth out of man in their sight.

13And the Lord said, Euen thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will driue them.

14Then said I, Ah Lord God, behold, my soule hath not bene polluted: for from my youth vp euen til now, haue I not eaten of that which dieth of it selfe, or is torne in pieces, neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.

15Then he said vnto me, Loe, I haue giuen thee cowes doung for mans doung and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

16Moreouer he said vnto me, Sonne of man, behold, I wil breake the staffe of bread in Ierusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care, and they shal drinke water by measure, and with astonishment:

17That they may want bread and water, & be astonied one with an other, and consume away for their iniquitie.

III == Ezek 12:6 , 11 ; 24:24 , 27

V == Num 14:34

VIII == Ezek 3:25

XIII == Hos 9:3

XIV == Ex 22:31 ; Lev 11:40 ; 17:15 ; Deut 14:3 ; Isa 65:4 ; Acts 10:14

XVI == Lev 26:26 ; Ps 105:16 ; Isa 3:1 ; Ezek 4:10-11 ; 5:16 ; 12:19 ; 14:13

XVII == Lev 21:5 ; 26:39 ; Isa 7:20 ; Ezek 24:23 ; 44:20

1 As for you, son of man, take a clay tablet; lay it in front of you, and draw on it a city (Jerusalem).

2 Raise a siege against it: build a tower, lay out a ramp, pitch camps, and set up batteringrams all around.

3 Then take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Fix your gaze on it: it shall be in the state of siege, and you shall besiege it. This shall be a sign for the house of Israel.

4 Then you shall lie on your left side, while I place the sins of the house of Israel upon you. As many days as you lie thus, you shall bear their sins.

5 For the years of their sins I allot you the same number of days, three hundred and ninety, during which you will bear the sins of the house of Israel.

6 When you finish this, you are to lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the sins of the house of Judah forty days; one day for each year I have allotted you.

7 Fixing your gaze on the siege of Jerusalem, with bared arm you shall prophesy against it.

8 See, I will bind you with cords so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.

9 Again, take wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt; put them in a single vessel and make bread out of them. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety.

10 The food you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; each day the same.

11 And the water you drink shall be the sixth of a hin by measure; each day the same.

16 Then he said to me: Son of man, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread which they have weighed out anxiously, and they shall drink water which they have measured out fearfully,

17 so that, owing to the scarcity of bread and water, everyone shall be filled with terror and waste away because of his sins.

12 For your food you must bake barley loaves over human excrement in their sight, said the LORD.

13 Thus the Israelites shall eat their food unclean among the nations where I scatter them.

14 "Oh no, Lord GOD!" I protested. "Never have I been made unclean, and from my youth till now, never have I eaten carrion flesh or that torn by wild beasts; never has any unclean meat entered my mouth."

15 Very well, he replied, I allow you cow's dung in place of human excrement; bake your bread on that.

NUMBERS ARE NOT IN ORDER.

In chapters 4-11 Ezekiel is to confront Israel with sin and impending judgment.
v 1-3. Sign 1, the tile: Ezekiel was speechless, so on a clay tile he was to draw Jerusalem with siege mounds, surrounding armies and battering rams. Then put an iron pan between it and his face to show that as the siege progressed Judah might call out to God for help, but there was a barrier between and He would not.

v 4-8, Sign 2. Lying down: Lie with his head toward Jerusalem and his face to the north for several hours every day for 390 days. Each day represented a year that the northern kingdom had been in deep sin to bring on the punishment, probably from the time Jeroboam set up the calves till Nebuchadnezzar came. Then he was to lie facing the south for 40 days, showing the 40 years the southern kingdom had lived in deep sin, possibly the 40 years king Manasseh was living without repentance. While on his side he was tied with ropes to indicate confinement of siege.

v 9-17. Sign 3, Unclean food: Ezekiel was to take a mixture of common grains to show there was scarcity, and make bread, the only thing he could eat for the 390 days. He was limited to 8 ounces and a quart of water a day. He was to bake it in sight of the people over man’s dung. God allowed Ezekiel to substitute cow dung, but it was not mixed with the bread. People in that area used dung for fuel just as our pioneers used buffalo chips. These people however, did not use a pan, but separated the burning fuel enough to allow the bread dough to be dropped between burning coals. The outside was burned black, but the inside was quite good. After the black was removed, the crust was also good, but absorbed the smell of the fuel it was baked in. This showed the people in captivity the shortness of food and water at Jerusalem.