1Thou also , son of man , take thee a tile , and lay it before thee , and portray upon it a city , even Jerusalem : 2and lay siege against it , and build forts against it , and cast up a mound against it ; set camps also against it , and plant battering rams against it round about . 3And take thou unto thee an iron pan , and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city : and set thy face toward it , and it shall be besieged , and thou shalt lay siege against it . This shall be a sign to the house of Israel .
The Bread of Affliction
4Moreover lie thou upon thy left side , and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it ; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it , thou shalt bear their iniquity . 5For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days , even three hundred and ninety days : so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel . 6And again , when thou hast accomplished these , thou shalt lie on thy right side , and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah : forty days , each day for a year , have I appointed it unto thee . 7And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem , with thine arm uncovered ; and thou shalt prophesy against it . 8And , behold , I lay bands upon thee , and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other , till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege .
The Duration of the Siege
9Take thou also unto thee wheat , and barley , and beans , and lentils , and millet , and spelt , and put them in one vessel , and make thee bread thereof ; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side , even three hundred and ninety days , shalt thou eat thereof . 10And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight , twenty shekels a day : from time to time shalt thou eat it . 11And thou shalt drink water by measure , the sixth part of a hin : from time to time shalt thou drink . 12And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes , and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man. 13And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean , among the nations whither I will drive them . 14Then said I , Ah Lord Jehovah ! behold , my soul hath not been polluted ; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself , or is torn of beasts ; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth . 15Then he said unto me , See , I have given thee cow’s dung for man ’s dung , and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon . 16Moreover he said unto me , Son of man , behold , I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem : and they shall eat bread by weight , and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure , and in dismay: 17that they may want bread and water , and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity .