Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized
1“Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. 3Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.
4“Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.4:4 Or upon your side You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5I 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.
6“After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8I 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.
9“Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; 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. 10Weigh out twenty shekels4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11Also measure out a sixth of a hin4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter of water and drink it at set times. 12Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.” 13The Lord said, “In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.”
14Then I said, “Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.”
15“Very well,” he said, “I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.”
16He then said to me: “Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of4:17 Or away in their sin.
耶路撒冷被困的預兆
1「人子啊，你去拿一塊磚放在自己面前，把耶路撒冷城畫在上面。 2然後圍困這城，建壘築臺，紮營圍攻，四面架起撞城錘。 3拿一個鐵盤當作鐵牆放在你和城中間。你要面向這城，圍困攻擊這城。這是給以色列人的一個徵兆。
4「你要向左側臥，擔當以色列人的罪惡。要用你向左側臥的天數擔當以色列人的罪惡。 5他們犯罪多少年，我要讓你側臥多少天。你要擔當以色列人的罪惡三百九十天。 6然後，你再向右側臥，擔當猶大的罪惡四十天。你側臥的天數代表他們犯罪的年數。 7你要面向被圍困的耶路撒冷，光著臂膀說預言斥責這城。 8我要用繩索捆綁你，使你不能翻身，直到你圍城的日子期滿。
9「你要拿小麥、大麥、豆、扁豆、小米和粗麥，裝在一個器皿中用來為自己做餅。你在三百九十天側臥期間要吃這餅。 10你每天要按時按量吃二百克， 11每天要按時按量喝六百毫升水。 12你要像吃大麥餅一樣吃這些餅，要在眾人面前用人糞來烤餅。」 13耶和華說：「我把以色列人驅逐到各國的時候，他們也要這樣在那裡吃不潔淨的食物。」
14我說：「唉，主耶和華啊！我從來沒有玷污過自己，我自幼至今從未吃過自然死去的或被野獸撕碎的動物，不潔淨的肉從未入過我的口。」 15於是祂對我說：「好吧，我容許你用牛糞代替人糞來烤餅。」 16祂又說：「人子啊，我要斷絕耶路撒冷的糧源，叫他們懷著焦慮限量吃餅，懷著恐懼限量喝水。 17他們必缺糧少水，絕望地面面相覷，因自己的罪惡而滅亡。」
