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 up to it, set up camps
against it and put battering rams around it. 3Then
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 house of Israel.
4 - Then lie on your left side and put the sin of
the house of Israel upon yourself. c You are to bear
their sin for the number of days you lie on your
side. 5I 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 house of Israel.
6 - After you have finished this, lie down again,
this time on your right side, and bear the sin of
the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days,
a day for each year. 7Turn your face toward the
siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy
against her. 8I 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.
9 - 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. 10Weigh
out twenty shekels of food to eat each day and
eat it at set times. 11Also measure out a sixth of a
hin of water and drink it at set times. 12Eat the
food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it
in the sight of the people, using human excrement
for fuel. 13The LORD said, In this way the people
of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations
where I will drive them.
14 - Then I said, Not so, Sovereign 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.
15 - Very well, he said, I will let you bake
your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement".
