Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

4 “Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. ² Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp^(A) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.^{(B) 3} Then take an iron pan,^(C) place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward^(D) it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign^(E) to the people of Israel.^(F)

⁴ “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.^[a] You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. ⁵ I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.

⁶ “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin^(G) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.^{(H) 7} Turn your face^(I) toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. ⁸ I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.^(J)

⁹ “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;^(K) put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. ¹⁰ Weigh out twenty shekels^[b](L) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. ¹¹ Also measure out a sixth of a hin^[c] of water and drink it at set times.^{(M) 12} Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement^(N) for fuel.” ¹³ The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”^(O)

¹⁴ Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord!^(P) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead^(Q) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.^(R)”

¹⁵ “Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”

¹⁶ He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off^(S) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,^{(T) 17} for food and water will be scarce.^(U) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of^[d] their sin.^(V)

False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophets^(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.^(B) They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord^(C) who bought them^(D)—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct^(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ In their greed^(F) these teachers will exploit you^(G) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,^(H) but sent them to hell,^[a] putting them in chains of darkness^[b] to be held for judgment;^{(I) 5} if he did not spare the ancient world^(J) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,^(K) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;^{(L) 6} if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,^(M) and made them an example^(N) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{(O) 7} and if he rescued Lot,^(P) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(Q) 8} (for that righteous man,^(R) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹ if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^(S) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^{(T) 10} This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire^(U) of the flesh^[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;^(V)