The Word Am I

The Prophet Ezekiel

Douay-Rheims :: World English Bible Catholic

- Chapter 4 -

1
And thou, O son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee: and draw upon it the plan of the city of Jerusalem.
2
And lay siege against it, and build forts, and cast up a mount, and set a camp against it, and place battering rams round about it.
3
And take unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face resolutely against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it: it is a sign to the house of Israel.
4
And thou shalt sleep upon thy left side, and shalt lay the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of the days that thou shalt sleep upon it, and thou shalt take upon thee their iniquity.
5
And I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days three hundred and ninety days: and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6
And when thou hast accomplished this, thou shalt sleep again upon thy right side, and thou shalt take upon thee the iniquity of the house of Juda forty days: a day for it year, yea, a day for a year I have appointed to thee.
7
And thou shalt turn thy face to the siege of Jerusalem, and thy arm shall be stretched out: and thou shalt prophesy against it.
8
Behold I have encompassed thee with bands: and thou shalt not turn thyself from one side to the other, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

The Defiled Bread

9
And take to 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.
10
And thy meat that thou shalt eat, shall be in weight twenty staters a day: from time to time thou shalt eat it.
11
And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time thou shalt drink it,
12
And thou shalt eat it as barley bread baked under the ashes: and thou shalt cover it, in their sight, with the dung that cometh out of a man.
13
And the Lord said: So shall the children of Israel Beat their bread all filthy among the nations whither I will cast them out.
14
And I said: Ah, ah, ah, O Lord God, behold my soul hath not been defiled, and from my infancy even till now, I have not eaten any thing that died of itself, or was torn by beasts, and no unclean flesh hath entered into my mouth.
15
And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat’s dung for man’s dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.
16
And he said to me: Son of man: Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.
17
So that when bread and water fail, every man may fall against his brother, and they may pine away in their iniquities.
1
You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem.
2
Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around.
3
Take for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face toward it. It will be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
4
“Moreover lie on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. According to the number of the days that you shall lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity.
5
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be to you a number of days, even three hundred ninety days. So you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6
Again, when you have accomplished these, you shall lie on your right side, and shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have appointed forty days, each day for a year, to you.
7
You shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered; and you shall prophesy against it.
8
Behold, I put ropes on you, and you shall not turn yourself from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.

The Defiled Bread

9
Take for yourself also wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel. Make bread of it. According to the number of the days that you will lie on your side, even three hundred ninety days, you shall eat of it.
10
Your food which you shall eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels (a) a day. From time to time you shall eat it.
11
You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin.(b) From time to time you shall drink.
12
You shall eat it as barley cakes, and you shall bake it in their sight with dung that comes out of man.”
13
The LORD said, “Even thus will the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”
14
Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! Behold, my soul has not been polluted; for from my youth up even until now I have not eaten of that which dies of itself, or is torn of animals. No abominable meat has come into my mouth!”
15
Then he said to me, “Behold, I have given you cow’s dung for man’s dung, and you shall prepare your bread on it.”
16
Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay;
17
that they may lack bread and water, be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.

Footnotes

(a)4:10 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces.
(b)4:11 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons.