2 at that time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, “Go, and loose the sackcloth from your waist and take off your sandals from your feet,” and he did so, walking ⁿnaked and barefoot.

3 Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years ^oas a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush,¹ 4 so shall the ^pking of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.

The Broken Flask

1 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^ca potter’s earthenware ^dflask, and take some of ^ethe elders of the people and some of ^ethe elders of the priests,

10 “Then ^vyou shall break ^wthe flask in the sight of the men who go with you,

11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^xas one breaks a potter’s vessel, ^yso that it can never be mended. ^zMen shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury.

2 Thus the Lord said to me: ^c“Make yourself straps and ^dyoke-bars, and put them on your neck.

3 Send word¹ to the king of ^eEdom, the king of ^eMoab, the king of the sons of ^eAmmon, the king of ^eTyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.

9 “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in ^yTahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah,

63 When you finish reading this book, ^zatie a stone to it ^zand cast it into the midst of the Euphrates,

The Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized

1 “And you, ^rson of man, ^stake a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem. 2 ^tAnd put siegeworks against it, ^uand build a siege wall against it, ^vand cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, ^wand plant battering rams against it all around. 3 And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; ^xand set your face toward it, ^yand let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is ^za sign for the house of Israel.

4 “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment¹ of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, ^ayou shall bear their punishment. 5 For I assign to you a number of days, ^b390 days, ^cequal to the number of the years of their punishment. ^aSo long shall you bear ^dthe punishment of the house of Israel. 6 And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and ^ebear ^fthe punishment of the house of Judah. ^gForty days I assign you, a day for each year. 7 ^hAnd you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, ⁱwith your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city. 8 And behold, ^jI will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed ^kthe days of your siege.

9 “And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer,² and put them into a single vessel and make your ^lbread from them. ^mDuring the number of days that you lie on your side, ⁿ390 days, you shall eat it. 10 And your food that you eat shall be ^oby weight, ^ptwenty shekels³ a day; from day to day⁴ you shall eat it. 11 And water you shall drink ^oby measure, the sixth part of a hin;⁵ from day to day you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it ^qin their sight on human dung.” 13 And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat ^rtheir bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

1 “And you, ^aO son of man, take a ^bsharp sword. Use it as ^ca barber’s razor and ^dpass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 ^eA third part you shall burn in the fire ^fin the midst of the city, ^gwhen the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. ^hAnd a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and ⁱI will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 ^jAnd you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 ^kAnd of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

23 ^o“Forge a chain!^{1 p}For the land is full of bloody crimes ^qand the city is full of violence.

3 As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself ^man exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day ⁿin their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place ⁿin their sight. ^oPerhaps they will understand, though¹ they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself ^pat evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight ^qdig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you ^ra sign for the house of Israel.”

7 ^sAnd I did as I was commanded. ^tI brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

6 “As for you, son of man, ^bgroan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, ^cgroan before their eyes.

7 ^dAnd when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news ^ethat it is coming. ^fEvery heart will melt, and ^gall hands will be feeble; every spirit will faint, and ^gall knees will be weak as water. ^hBehold, it is ^ecoming, and it will be fulfilled,’” declares the Lord God.

The Siege of Jerusalem

1 ^lIn the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^m“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. 3 And ⁿutter a parable to ^othe rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

6 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^rWoe to the bloody city, to ^pthe pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.² 7 For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ^sthe bare rock; ^tshe did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. 8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. 9 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! ^uI also will make the pile great. 10 Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,³ and let the bones be burned up. 11 Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ^vthat its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. 12 ^wShe has wearied herself with toil;⁴ its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! 13 On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, ^xyou shall not be cleansed anymore till ^yI have satisfied my fury upon you. 14 ^zI am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; ^aI will not spare; ^bI will not relent; ^caccording to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel’s Wife Dies

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 ^d“Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh, but not aloud; make no mourning for the dead. ^eBind on your turban, and ^fput your shoes on your feet; do not cover your lips, ^gnor eat the bread of men.” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and ^hat evening my wife died. And on the next morning I did ⁱas I was commanded.

19 And ^jthe people said to me, “Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?” 20 Then I said to them, “The word of the Lord came to me: 21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^kBehold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and ^lyour sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword. 22 And ^myou shall do as I have done; ^myou shall not cover your lips, ^gnor eat the bread of men. 23 ^mYour turbans shall be on your heads and your shoes on your feet; you shall not mourn or weep, but ⁿyou shall rot away in your iniquities and groan to one another. 24 Thus shall Ezekiel be to you ^oa sign; ^maccording to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then ^pyou will know that I am the Lord God.’

Hosea’s Wife and Children

2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ^c“Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have ^dchildren of whoredom, for ^ethe land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while ^fI will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and ^gI will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day ^hI will break the bow of Israel ⁱin the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, ^j“Call her name No Mercy,¹ for ^kI will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But ^lI will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I ^mwill not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, ⁿ“Call his name Not My People,² for ^oyou are not my people, and I am not your God.”³