Study Desk

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^(a) up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.^(b)

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

"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.^[a] 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^(g) of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.^(h)

Turn your face⁽ⁱ⁾ 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.^(j)

"Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt;^(k) 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^[b](l) of food to eat each day and eat it at set times.

Also measure out a sixth of a hin^[c] of water and drink it at set times.^(m)

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

The Lord said, "In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them."^(o)

Then I said, "Not so, Sovereign Lord !^(p) I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead^(q) or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.^(r)"

"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^(s) the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair,^(t)

for food and water will be scarce.^(u) They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of^[d] their sin.^(v)

God's Razor of Judgment

"Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber's razor^(a) to shave^(b) your head and your beard.^(c) Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.

When the days of your siege come to an end, burn^(d) a third^(e) 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.^(f) For I will pursue them with drawn sword.^(g)

But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.^(h)

Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire⁽ⁱ⁾ and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.^(j)

Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.^(k)

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even^[a] conformed to the standards of the nations around you.^(l)

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations.^(m)

Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again.⁽ⁿ⁾

Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents.^(o) I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds.^(p)

Therefore as surely as I live,^(q) declares the Sovereign^(r) Lord , because you have defiled my sanctuary^(s) with all your vile images^(t) and detestable practices,^(u) I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you.^(v)

A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds^(w) and pursue with drawn sword.^(x)

"Then my anger will cease and my wrath^(y) against them will subside, and I will be avenged.^(z) And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.^(aa)

"I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by.^(ab)

You will be a reproach^(ac) and a taunt, a warning^(ad) and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke.^(ae) I the Lord have spoken.^(af)

When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food.^(ag)

I will send famine and wild beasts^(ah) against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed^(ai) will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.^(aj)"