“Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.

But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the class="small-caps" >Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.

Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: “Go, shut yourself inside your house.

And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people.

I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.

But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign class="small-caps" >Lord says.’ Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.

Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.

Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.

Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.

“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.

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.

“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.

Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.

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.

“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; 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.

Weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and eat it at set times.

Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.”

The class="small-caps" >Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”

Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign class="small-caps" >Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.”

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

He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,

for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of their sin.

God’s Razor of Judgment

“Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.

When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.