Ezekiel 4
The full text of Ezekiel 4 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 Now you, son of man, take a brick and set it before you. Engrave on it a city—Jerusalem.
2 Set a siege against it: build a siege wall against it, raise a ramp against it, set camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around.
3 Then take an iron plate and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Fix your face against it—it will be under siege, and you will besiege it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.
4 Then lie on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of days you lie on it, you will bear their iniquity.
5 I have assigned to you the years of their iniquity as a number of days—three hundred and ninety days. You will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6 When you have completed these, you will lie again on your right side and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah—forty days, a day for each year I have assigned to you.
7 Fix your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and prophesy against it.
8 I am placing ropes upon you so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
9 Now take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in one vessel and make bread from them. For the number of days you lie on your side—three hundred and ninety days—you shall eat it.
10 Your food that you eat shall be by weight—twenty shekels per day. You shall eat it at set times.
11 Water also you shall drink by measure—a sixth of a hin. You shall drink it at set times.
12 You shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it on human dung before their eyes."
13 The LORD said, "Thus the sons of Israel will eat their bread unclean among the nations where I will drive them."
14 I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have not eaten what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and foul meat has not entered my mouth."
15 He said to me, "Look—I am giving you cow dung in place of human dung. Make your bread over it."
16 He said to me, "Son of man, I am about to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight and in anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,
17 so that they lack bread and water. They will look at one another in horror and waste away in their iniquity."
Translation notes (17)
- Ezekiel 4:1a The Hebrew word levenah refers to a clay brick or tile, which was a common writing surface in Mesopotamia.
- Ezekiel 4:2a The Hebrew word karim refers to battering rams or siege engines.
- Ezekiel 4:3a The Hebrew phrase mahabat barzel means 'iron griddle' or 'iron plate,' which was used in cooking but here serves as a barrier.
- Ezekiel 4:3b The iron wall mentioned here may symbolize God's separation from the city.
- Ezekiel 4:4a The Hebrew word avon can mean either 'iniquity' or 'punishment for iniquity,' and both senses are active in this context.
- Ezekiel 4:5a The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, reads 190 days, while the standard Hebrew text has 390 days. The meaning or referent of this number is debated.
- Ezekiel 4:6a The period of 40 years likely corresponds to a generation or a known period of sin.
- Ezekiel 4:7a The Hebrew phrase zero'akha hasufah means 'your arm uncovered' or 'your arm bared,' which was a gesture of aggression.
- Ezekiel 4:9a Mixed-grain bread signals conditions of famine, as these grains would normally not be combined.
- Ezekiel 4:10a This amount, about 8 ounces or 230 grams, represents a subsistence-level ration.
- Ezekiel 4:11a A sixth of a hin, which is approximately 2/3 liter, represents a minimal amount of hydration.
- Ezekiel 4:12a The Hebrew phrase geleli ha'adam means 'dung of the human,' which was used as fuel but caused ritual defilement.
- Ezekiel 4:13a Exile is equated with ritual impurity, meaning the people would be unable to maintain their food laws.
- Ezekiel 4:14a The Hebrew word piggul means 'foul' or 'abominable meat'; it is a technical term for sacrificial flesh that has become ritually unfit.
- Ezekiel 4:15a Using cow dung as fuel was a normal practice, and the concession to use it instead of human dung reduces the ritual offense.
- Ezekiel 4:16a The Hebrew phrase matteh-lehem means 'staff of bread,' referring to bread as the support or crutch of life.
- Ezekiel 4:17a The Hebrew phrase namaqu ba'avonam means 'rot away' or 'waste away in their iniquity.'
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is a new translation of the Bible prepared by Trinity Bible AI — rendered from the original Hebrew and faithful to the earliest and most reliable manuscripts. Finished in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation you can read today, and it is available only through Trinity Bible. All 66 books, including Ezekiel, are free to read on this site.
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