The Siege of Jerusalem Illustrated

1“You also, son of humanity, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around. 3Take an iron pan and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Then turn your face toward it, so that it will be under sieged, and siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.

4“Then lie down on your left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you will bear their iniquity. 5For I have assigned to you a number of days according to the years of their iniquity. For 390 days, you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

6“When you have completed these days, you are to lie down a second time on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned 40 days to you, a day for each year. 7You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm uncovered, prophesy against it. 8Look here, I will put ropes on you, so that you can not turn yourself from one side to the other, until you have accomplished the days of your siege.

9“Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt, put them in a single vessel, and make bread from it. For the number of the days that you will lie on your side, 390 days, you will eat from it. 10The food you will eat each day is to weigh twenty shekels.+4:10 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces. You will eat it at set times. 11You are to drink a sixth of a hin.+4:11 A hin is about 6.5 liters or 1.7 gallons. of water, which you will drink at set times. 12You will eat it like barley cakes, and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight.” 13YHWH said, “Even thus will the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”

14Then I said, “Ah Lord YHWH! See, my soul has not been polluted. For from my youth up even until now I have not eaten anything found dead or torn of animals. No abominable meat has come into my mouth!”

15Then he said to me, “See, I have given you cow’s dung instead of human excrement, and you may prepare your bread on it.”

16Moreover he said to me, “Son of humanity, I will certainly break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness. They will drink water by measure, and in dismay; 17that they may lack bread and water, be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.