1“Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, place it in front of you, and draw a city on it—Jerusalem.
2Then lay siege against it. Build siege works, construct a ramp, set up camps, and place battering rams around it.
3Then take an iron pan and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Stare directly at the city; it will be under siege, and you will lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.
4“You must also lie on your left side and take upon yourself the sin of the people of Israel. You will bear their sin for the number of days you lie on that side.
5For I have assigned you a number of days equal to the years of their sin—390 days. So you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.
6“After you have completed these days, you are to lie on your right side and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, one day for each year.
7You are to stare intently at the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and you will prophesy against it.
8Look, I will tie you with ropes so you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
9“Also, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in one container and make bread from them. You will eat this bread for the 390 days you lie on your side.
10You are to eat your food by weight, twenty shekels (about 8 ounces) a day. You will eat it at regular intervals.
11You are to drink water by measure, a sixth of a hin (about a pint). You will drink it at regular intervals.
12You must eat it like barley cakes, and you must bake it in front of them using human waste.
13Yahweh said, “In the same way, the people of Israel will eat their food, which will be unclean, among the nations where I will scatter them.”
14Then I said, “Oh, Lord Yahweh! Look, I have never become unclean; from my youth until now, I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was torn apart by animals. No disgusting meat has ever entered my mouth!”
15Then he said to me, “Look, I have given you cow dung instead of human waste, and you will prepare your bread on it.”
16He also said to me, “Son of man, listen, I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weighing it, and with fear; and they will drink water by measuring it, and in despair.
17This is so they will lack both bread and water, be terrified of each other, and waste away because of their sin.