Ezekiel 4-7
New King James Version
The Siege of Jerusalem Portrayed
4 “You also, son of man, take a clay tablet and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. 2 (A)Lay siege against it, build a (B)siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it; set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around. 3 Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be (C)besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. (D)This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
4 “Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. 5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; (E)so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a day for each year.
7 “Therefore you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem; your arm shall be uncovered, and you shall prophesy against it. 8 (F)And surely I will [a]restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another till you have ended the days of your siege.
9 “Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to time you shall eat it. 11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight.”
13 Then the Lord said, “So (G)shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them.”
14 So I said, (H)“Ah, Lord God! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now; I have never eaten (I)what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has (J)abominable[b] flesh ever come into my mouth.”
15 Then He said to me, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”
16 Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, surely I will cut off the (K)supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall (L)eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall (M)drink water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be dismayed with one another, and (N)waste away because of their iniquity.
A Sword Against Jerusalem
5 “And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, (O)and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 (P)You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of (Q)the city, when (R)the days of the siege are finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after (S)them. 3 (T)You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4 Then take some of them again and (U)throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.
5 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. 6 She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have [c]multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you, have not walked in My statutes (V)nor kept My judgments, [d]nor even done according to the judgments of the nations that are all around you’— 8 therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 (W)And I will do among you what I have never done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations. 10 Therefore fathers (X)shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who remain I will (Y)scatter to all the winds.
11 ‘Therefore, as I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely, because you have (Z)defiled My sanctuary with all your (AA)detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; (AB)My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. 12 (AC)One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and (AD)I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after (AE)them.
13 ‘Thus shall My anger (AF)be spent, and I will (AG)cause My fury to rest upon them, (AH)and I will be avenged; (AI)and they shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it in My zeal, when I have spent My fury upon them. 14 Moreover (AJ)I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15 ‘So [e]it shall be a (AK)reproach, a taunt, a (AL)lesson, and an astonishment to the nations that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury and in (AM)furious rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken. 16 When I (AN)send against them the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your (AO)supply of bread. 17 So I will send against you famine and (AP)wild beasts, and they will bereave you. (AQ)Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’ ”
Judgment on Idolatrous Israel
6 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 “Son of man, (AR)set your face toward the (AS)mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: “Indeed I, even I, will bring a sword against you, and (AT)I will destroy your [f]high places. 4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and (AU)I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the corpses of the children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the [g]high places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and (AV)you shall know that I am the Lord.
8 (AW)“Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword among the nations, when you are (AX)scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of you who escape will (AY)remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because (AZ)I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and (BA)by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; (BB)they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And they shall know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this calamity upon them.”
11 ‘Thus says the Lord God: (BC)“Pound[h] your fists and stamp your feet, and say, ‘Alas, for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! (BD)For they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine. (BE)Thus will I spend My fury upon them. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, (BF)on every high hill, (BG)on all the mountaintops, (BH)under every green tree, and under every thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. 14 So I will (BI)stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate than the wilderness toward (BJ)Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” ’ ”
Judgment on Israel Is Near
7 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel:
(BK)‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
3 Now the end has come upon you,
And I will send My anger against you;
I will judge you (BL)according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
4 (BM)My eye will not spare you,
Nor will I have pity;
But I will repay your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst;
(BN)Then you shall know that I am the Lord!’
5 “Thus says the Lord God:
‘A disaster, a singular (BO)disaster;
Behold, it has come!
6 An end has come,
The end has come;
It has dawned for you;
Behold, it has come!
7 (BP)Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land;
(BQ)The time has come,
A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
8 Now upon you I will soon (BR)pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
9 ‘My eye will not spare,
Nor will I have pity;
I will [i]repay you according to your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst.
Then you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes.
10 ‘Behold, the day!
Behold, it has come!
(BS)Doom has gone out;
The rod has blossomed,
Pride has budded.
11 (BT)Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness;
None of them shall remain,
None of their multitude,
None of [j]them;
(BU)Nor shall there be wailing for them.
12 The time has come,
The day draws near.
‘Let not the buyer (BV)rejoice,
Nor the seller (BW)mourn,
For wrath is on their whole multitude.
13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold,
Though he may still be alive;
For the vision concerns the whole multitude,
And it shall not turn back;
No one will strengthen himself
Who lives in iniquity.
14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready,
But no one goes to battle;
For My wrath is on all their multitude.
15 (BX)The sword is outside,
And the pestilence and famine within.
Whoever is in the field
Will die by the sword;
And whoever is in the city,
Famine and pestilence will devour him.
16 ‘Those who (BY)survive will escape and be on the mountains
Like doves of the valleys,
All of them mourning,
Each for his iniquity.
17 Every (BZ)hand will be feeble,
And every knee will be as weak as water.
18 They will also (CA)be girded with sackcloth;
Horror will cover them;
Shame will be on every face,
Baldness on all their heads.
19 ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,
And their gold will be like refuse;
Their (CB)silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them
In the day of the wrath of the Lord;
They will not satisfy their souls,
Nor fill their stomachs,
Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.
20 ‘As for the beauty of his ornaments,
He set it in majesty;
(CC)But they made from it
The images of their abominations—
Their detestable things;
Therefore I have made it
Like refuse to them.
21 I will give it as (CD)plunder
Into the hands of strangers,
And to the wicked of the earth as spoil;
And they shall defile it.
22 I will turn My face from them,
And they will defile My secret place;
For robbers shall enter it and defile it.
23 ‘Make a chain,
For (CE)the land is filled with crimes of blood,
And the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the (CF)worst of the Gentiles,
And they will possess their houses;
I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,
And their holy places shall be (CG)defiled.
25 [k]Destruction comes;
They will seek peace, but there shall be none.
26 (CH)Disaster will come upon disaster,
And rumor will be upon rumor.
(CI)Then they will seek a vision from a prophet;
But the law will perish from the priest,
And counsel from the elders.
27 ‘The king will mourn,
The prince will be clothed with desolation,
And the hands of the common people will tremble.
I will do to them according to their way,
And according to what they deserve I will judge them;
Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’ ”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 4:8 Lit. put ropes on
- Ezekiel 4:14 Ritually unclean flesh, Lev. 7:18
- Ezekiel 5:7 Or raged
- Ezekiel 5:7 So with MT, LXX, Tg., Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. but have done (cf. 11:12)
- Ezekiel 5:15 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. you
- Ezekiel 6:3 Places for pagan worship
- Ezekiel 6:6 Places for pagan worship
- Ezekiel 6:11 Lit. Strike your hands
- Ezekiel 7:9 Lit. give
- Ezekiel 7:11 Or their wealth
- Ezekiel 7:25 Lit. Shuddering
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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