Ezekiel 4

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 "And you, r son of man, s take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 t And put siegeworks against it, u and build a siege wall against it, v and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, w and plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; x and set your face toward it, y and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is z a sign for the house of Israel.

4 "Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment 1 of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, a you shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, b 390 days, c equal to the number of the years of their punishment. a So long shall you bear d the punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and e bear f the punishment of the house of Judah. g Forty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 h And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, i with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, j I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed k the days of your siege.

9 "And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, 2 and put them into a single vessel and make your l bread from them. m During the number of days that you lie on your side, n 390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be o by weight, p twenty shekels 3 a day; from day to day 4 you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink o by measure, the sixth part of a hin; 5 from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it q in their sight on human dung." 13 And the Lord said, "Thus shall the people of Israel eat r their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them." 14 Then I said, s "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. 6 t From my youth up till now I have never eaten u what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has v tainted meat come into my mouth." 15 Then he said to me, "See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread." 16 Moreover, he said to me, w "Son of man, behold, x I will break the supply 7 of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread o by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water o by measure and in dismay. 17 I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and y look at one another in dismay, and z rot away because of their punishment.

  1. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  2. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:3
    And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.
    Jeremiah 13:1 - 2
    Thus says the Lord to me, "Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.
  3. Cross References
    2 Kings 25:1
    And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.
  4. Cross References
    Ezekiel 17:17
    Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives.
    Ezekiel 21:22
    Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
    Ezekiel 26:8
    He will kill with the sword your daughters on the mainland. He will set up a siege wall against you and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you.
  5. Cross References
    Luke 19:43
    For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
  6. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:22
    Into his right hand comes the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth with murder, to lift up the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to cast up mounds, to build siege towers.
    Ezekiel 26:9
    He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers.
  7. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:2
    Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 29:3
    And I will encamp against you all around, and will besiege you with towers and I will raise siegeworks against you.
  9. Cross References
    Ezekiel 12:6
    In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon ...
    Ezekiel 12:11
    Say, 'I am a sign for you: as I have done, so s...
    Ezekiel 24:24
    Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according ...
    Ezekiel 24:27
    On that day your mouth will be opened to the fu...
    Isaiah 8:18
    Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has gi...
    Isaiah 20:3
    Then the Lord said, "As my servant Isaiah has w...
  10. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:10
    But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.
    Ezekiel 44:12
    Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment.
    Leviticus 16:22
    The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
    Isaiah 53:11 - 12
    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
  11. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:9
    And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.
  12. Cross References
    Numbers 14:34
    According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.
  13. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:4
    Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment.
  14. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:4
    Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.
    Ezekiel 23:9 - 10
    Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted.
  15. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:10
    But the Levites who went far from me, going astray from me after their idols when Israel went astray, shall bear their punishment.
    Ezekiel 44:12
    Because they ministered to them before their idols and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have sworn concerning them, declares the Lord God, and they shall bear their punishment.
    Leviticus 16:22
    The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
    Isaiah 53:11 - 12
    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
  16. Cross References
    Ezekiel 23:11 - 12
    Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister.
  17. Cross References
    Numbers 14:34
    According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.
  18. Cross References
    Ezekiel 21:2
    Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 52:10
    The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
  20. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:25
    And you, O son of man, behold, cords will be placed upon you, and you shall be bound with them, so that you cannot go out among the people.
  21. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:9
    And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.
    Ezekiel 5:2
    A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them.
    2 Kings 25:1 - 3
    And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.
    Jeremiah 39:1 - 2
    In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it.
    Jeremiah 52:4 - 6
    And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it.
  22. Cross References
    1 Kings 22:27
    And say, 'Thus says the king, "Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace."'
  23. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:8
    And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.
  24. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:5
    For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.
  25. Cross References
    Ezekiel 12:19
    And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink water in dismay. In this way her land will be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who dwell in it.
    Jeremiah 37:21
    So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
  26. Cross References
    Ezekiel 45:12
    The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
  27. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:10
    And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.
  28. Cross References
    Ezekiel 12:3
    As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
  29. Cross References
    Hosea 9:3
    They shall not remain in the land of the Lord, but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.
    Daniel 1:8
    But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
  30. Cross References
    Ezekiel 9:8
    And while they were striking, and I was left alone, I fell upon my face, and cried, "Ah, Lord God! Will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?
    Ezekiel 11:13
    And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, "Ah, Lord God! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?
    Ezekiel 20:49
    Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, 'Is he not a maker of parables?'
  31. Cross References
    Acts 10:14
    But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.
  32. Cross References
    Ezekiel 44:31
    The priests shall not eat of anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.
    Leviticus 7:24
    The fat of an animal that dies of itself and the fat of one that is torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but on no account shall you eat it.
  33. Cross References
    Isaiah 65:4
    Who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig's flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels.
    Leviticus 7:18
    If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offering is eaten on the third day, he who offers it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be credited to him. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity.
  34. Cross References
    Ezekiel 2:1
    And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.
  35. Cross References
    Ezekiel 5:16
    When I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread.
    Ezekiel 14:13
    Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast.
    Leviticus 26:26
    When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.
  36. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:10
    And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.
  37. Cross References
    Ezekiel 4:10
    And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.
  38. Cross References
    Ezekiel 3:15
    And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.
  39. Cross References
    Ezekiel 24:23
    Your turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but you shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another.
    Ezekiel 33:10
    "And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?'
    Leviticus 26:39
    And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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