Ezekiel plays war
1Son of man, take a clay tablet; place it in front of you and draw on it the city of Jerusalem. 2Then act as if you were laying siege to it; dig a trench round it and build a ramp; set up tents and a battering ram against it. 3Take an iron pan; place it as a wall of iron between you and the city and look towards the city: it is under siege and you are besieging it. All this will be a sign for the people of Israel.
4Lie on your left side, taking upon yourself the sin of Israel, for you will bear their sin as long as you are lying on it. 5I have assigned to you a number of days equal to the duration of their sins – for a hundred and ninety days you will bear the sin of Israel.
6When you have completed this you shall lie down again on your right side and bear the sin of Judah for forty days – one day corresponding to a year. 7Then you shall turn your face and your bared arm towards the siege of Jerusalem and prophesy against it. 8I shall bind you with cords to prevent you from turning from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your confinement. 9Take some wheat and barley, some beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put it all in one vessel and make some bread; this is what you will eat all the time you are lying on your side – one hundred and ninety days.
10The food you eat will be a daily ration of eight ounces a day; 11you will drink two thirds of a quart of water each day. 12Eat the food as you would a barley cake. You will cook it publicly on human dung, 13for that is the way – says Yahweh – the people of Israel will eat unclean bread among the nations where I shall drive them.”
14I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! I have not been defiled: from childhood until now I have never eaten any animal found dead or torn; unclean meat has never entered my mouth.”
15He then said, “Very well! I allow you cow dung in place of human dung for baking your bread.” 16He continued, “Son of man, I shall cut off the food in Jerusalem. They will eat strictly-rationed bread with anxiety and despair as they drink water sparingly, 17for food and water will be in short supply and they will all waste away because of their sin.
