Ezekiel 4

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	NEW JERUSALEM
1 As for you, son of man, take a clay tablet; lay it in front of you, and draw on it a city (Jerusalem).	1 'For your part, son of man, take a brick and lay it in front of you; on it scratch a city, Jerusalem.
2 Raise a siege against it: build a tower, lay out a ramp, pitch camps, and set up batteringrams all around.	2 You are then to besiege it, trench round it, build earthworks, pitch camps and bring up battering-rams alround.
3 Then take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Fix your gaze on it: it shall be in the state of siege, and you shall besiege it. This shall be a sign for the house of Israel.	3 Then take an iron pan and place it as though it were an iron wal between you and the city. Then fixyour gaze on it; it is being besieged and you are besieging it. This is a sign for the House of Israel.
4 Then you shall lie on your left side, while I place the sins of the house of Israel upon you. As many days as you lie thus, you shall bear their sins.	4 'Lie down on your left side and take the guilt of the House of Israel on yourself. You wil bear their guiltfor as many days as you lie on that side.
5 For the years of their sins I allot you the same number of days, three hundred and ninety, during which you will bear the sins of the house of Israel.	5 Allowing one day for every year of their guilt, I ordain that you bear it for three hundred and ninety days;this is how you wil bear the House of Israel's guilt.
6 When you finish this, you are to lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the sins of the house of Judah forty days; one day for each year I have allotted you.	6 And when you have finished doing this, you are to lie down again, on your right side, and bear the guiltof the House of Judah for forty days. I have set the length for you as one day for one year.
7 Fixing your gaze on the siege of Jerusalem, with bared arm you shall prophesy against it.	7 Then fix your gaze on the siege of Jerusalem, raise your bared arm and prophesy against her.
8 See, I will bind you with cords so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.	8 Look, I am going to tie you up and you wil not be able to turn over from one side to the other until theperiod of your seclusion is over.
9 Again, take wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt; put them in a single vessel and make bread out of them. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety.	9 'Now take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, mil et and spelt; put them al in the same pot and make theminto bread for yourself. You are to eat it for as many days as you are lying on your side -- three hundred andninety days.
10 The food you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; each day the same.	10 Of this food, you are to weigh out a daily portion of twenty shekels and eat it a little piece at a time.
11 And the water you drink shall be the sixth of a hin by measure; each day the same.	11 And you are to ration the water you drink -- a sixth of a hin -- drinking that a little at a time.
12 For your food you must bake barley loaves over human excrement in their sight, said the LORD.	12 You are to eat this in the form of a barley cake baked where they can see you, on human dung.'
13 Thus the Israelites shall eat their food unclean among the nations where I scatter them.	13 And Yahweh said, 'This is how the Israelites wil have to eat their defiled food, wherever I dispersethem among the nations.'
14 "Oh no, Lord GOD!" I protested. "Never have I been made unclean, and from my youth till now, never have I eaten carrion flesh or that torn by wild beasts; never has any unclean meat entered my mouth."	14 I then said, 'Lord Yahweh, my soul is not defiled. From my childhood until now, I have never eaten ananimal that has died a natural death or been savaged; no tainted meat has ever entered my mouth.'
15 Very well, he replied, I allow you cow's dung in place of human excrement; bake your bread on that.	15 'Very wel ,' he said, 'I grant you cow-dung instead of human dung; you are to bake your bread on that.'
16 Then he said to me: Son of man, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread which they have weighed out anxiously, and they shall drink water which they have measured out fearfully,	16 He then said, 'Son of man, I am going to cut off Jerusalem's food supply; in their extremity, the foodthey eat wil be weighed out; to their horror, the water they drink wil be rationed,
17 so that, owing to the scarcity of bread and water, everyone shall be filled with terror and waste away because of his sins.	17 until there is no food or water left, and they fall into a stupor and waste away because of their guilt.'