Ezekiel 4:16

New Living Translation

Then he told me, "Son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. The water will be rationed out drop by drop, and the people will drink it with dismay.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat food they have weighed out and in dread drink rationed water

Hebrew Names Version
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Yerushalayim: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:

King James Version
Moreover 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 care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

English Standard Version
Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

New American Standard Bible
Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,

New Century Version
He also said to me, "Human, I am going to cut off the supply of bread to Jerusalem. They will eat the bread that is measured out to them, and they will worry as they eat. They will drink water that is measured out to them, and they will be in shock as they drink it.

Amplified Bible
Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, behold (listen carefully), I am going to break the staff of bread [that supports life] in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread [rationed] by weight and [eat it] with anxiety and fear, and drink water by measure and [drink it] in horror [of the impending starvation],

World English Bible
Moreover he said to 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:

Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer, he said vnto me, Sonne of man, beholde, I will breake the staffe of bread in Ierusalem, and they shall eate bread by weight, and with care, and they shal drinke water by measure, and with astonishment.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and drink water by measure and in horror,

Legacy Standard Bible
Moreover, He said to me, "Son of man, behold, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they will drink water by measure and in desolation

Berean Standard Bible
Then He told me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure.

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, the people of Jerusalem will starve. They will have so little food and water that they will be afraid and hopeless.

Complete Jewish Bible
He then said to me, "Human being, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Yerushalayim, so that they will anxiously weigh out bread to eat, and, horrified, ration water to drink.

Darby Translation
And he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

Easy-to-Read Version
Then God said to me, "Son of man, I am destroying Jerusalem's supply of bread. People will have only a little bread to eat. They will be very worried about their food supply, and they will have only a little water to drink. Every time they take a drink, they will feel more afraid.

George Lamsa Translation
Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; and they shall eat bread by weight; and when thirsty, they shall drink water by measure;

Good News Translation
And he added, "Mortal man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread for Jerusalem. The people there will be distressed and anxious as they measure out the food they eat and the water they drink.

Lexham English Bible
And he said to me, "Son of man, look, I am going to break the supply of bread in Jerusalem, and they will eat bread by weight, anxiously, and rationed water, and they will drink with horror,

Literal Translation
And He said to me, Son of man, behold, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem. And they shall eat bread by weight, and with anxiety. And they shall drink water by measure, and in horror,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he sayde vnto me: Beholde thou sonne off man, I will mynishe all the prouysion of bred in Ierusalem, so that they shall weye their bred, and eate it with scarcenesse. But as for water, they shall haue a very litle measure theroff, to drynke.

American Standard Version
Moreover 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:

Bible in Basic English
And he said to me, Son of man, see, I will take away from Jerusalem her necessary bread: they will take their bread by weight and with care, measuring out their drinking-water with fear and wonder:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Moreover 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 anxiety; and they shall drink water by measure, and in appalment;

King James Version (1611)
Moreouer he said vnto me, Sonne of man, behold, I wil breake the staffe of bread in Ierusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care, and they shal drinke water by measure, and with astonishment:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he saide vnto me, Beholde thou sonne of man, I wyll breake the staffe of bread in Hierusalem, and they shall eate their bread with waight and with care, and their water in measure and astonishment shall they drinke,

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to me, Son of man, behold, I break the support of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight and in want; and shall drink water by measure, and in a state of ruin:

English Revised Version
Moreover 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 carefulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to me, Sone of man, lo! Y schal al to-breke the staf of breed in Jerusalem, and thei schulen ete her breed in weiyte and in bisynesse, and thei schulen drynke water in mesure and in angwisch;

Update Bible Version
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, look, 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:

Webster's Bible Translation
Moreover he said to me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment.

New English Translation
Then he said to me, "Son of man, I am about to remove the bread supply in Jerusalem. They will eat their bread ration anxiously, and they will drink their water ration in terror

New King James Version
Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink water by measure and with dread,

New Life Bible
And He said to me, "Son of man, I am going to take away the bread that is needed in Jerusalem. They will weigh the bread they eat and they will drink water from small cups, and be afraid

New Revised Standard
Then he said to me, Mortal, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he said unto me, Son of man Behold me! breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, So shall they eat bread by weight and with anxious care, And water by measure, and in astonishment, shall they drink:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to me: Son of man: Behold, I will break in pieces the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care: and they shall drink water by measure, and in distress.

Revised Standard Version
Moreover he said to me, "Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

Young's Literal Translation
And He saith unto me, `Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;

THE MESSAGE
Then he said to me, "Son of man, I'm going to cut off all food from Jerusalem. The people will live on starvation rations, worrying where the next meal's coming from, scrounging for the next drink of water. Famine conditions. People will look at one another, see nothing but skin and bones, and shake their heads. This is what sin does."

Contextual Overview

⁹ "Now go and get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer wheat, and mix them together in a storage jar. Use them to make bread for yourself during the 390 days you will be lying on your side. ¹⁰ Ration this out to yourself, eight ounces of food for each day, and eat it at set times. ¹¹ Then measure out a jar of water for each day, and drink it at set times. ¹² Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes. While all the people are watching, bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel and then eat the bread." ¹³ Then the Lord said, "This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the Gentile lands to which I will banish them!" ¹⁴ Then I said, "O Sovereign Lord , must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law." ¹⁵ "All right," the Lord said. "You may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung." ¹⁶ Then he told me, "Son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. It will be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. The water will be rationed out drop by drop, and the people will drink it with dismay. ¹⁷ Lacking food and water, people will look at one another in terror, and they will waste away under their punishment.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I will: Ezekiel 5:16, Ezekiel 14:13, Leviticus 26:26, Psalms 105:16, Isaiah 3:1

eat: The prophet was allowed each day only twenty shekels weight, or about ten ounces, of the coarse food he had prepared, and the sixth part of a hin, scarcely a pint and a half, of water; all of which was intended to shew that they should be obliged to eat the meanest and coarsest food, and that by weight, and their water by measure. Ezekiel 4:10, Ezekiel 4:11, Ezekiel 12:18, Ezekiel 12:19, Psalms 60:3, Lamentations 1:11, Lamentations 4:9, Lamentations 4:10, Lamentations 5:9

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 28:48 - in hunger Job 6:7 - as my sorrowful meat Job 21:25 - never Psalms 80:5 - General Psalms 104:15 - bread Ecclesiastes 5:17 - he eateth Isaiah 36:12 - that they may Ezekiel 4:9 - wheat Amos 4:8 - but Micah 6:14 - eat Haggai 1:6 - eat Revelation 6:5 - had

Cross-References

Genesis 3:8
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.

Genesis 4:14
You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!"

Exodus 20:18
When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram's horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.

2 Kings 13:23
But the Lord was gracious and merciful to the people of Israel, and they were not totally destroyed. He pitied them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day he still has not completely destroyed them or banished them from his presence.

2 Kings 24:20
These things happened because of the Lord 's anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile. Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Job 1:12
"All right, you may test him," the Lord said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the Lord 's presence.

Job 2:7
So Satan left the Lord 's presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

Job 20:17
They will never again enjoy streams of olive oil or rivers of milk and honey.

Psalms 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.

Psalms 68:2
Blow them away like smoke. Melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Moreover he said unto me, son of man,.... What follows opens the design, and shows what was intended by the symbol of the miscellany bread, baked with cow dung, the prophet was to eat by measure, as, well as drink water by measure: namely, the sore famine that should be in Jerusalem at the time of the siege:

behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: that is, take away bread, which is the staff of life, the support of it, and which strengthens man's heart; and also the nourishing virtue and efficacy from what they had. The sense is, that the Lord would both deprive them of a sufficiency of bread, the nourishment of man; and not suffer the little they had to be nourishing to them; what they ate would not satisfy them, nor do them much good; see Leviticus 26:26;

and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; that they might not eat too much at a time, but have something for tomorrow; and to cause their little stock to last the longer, not knowing how long the siege would be:

and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment; that such a judgment should fall upon them, who thought themselves the people of God, and the favourites of heaven.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The staff of bread - Bread is so called because it is that on which the support of life mainly depends.

With astonishment - With dismay and anxiety at the calamities which are befalling them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 4:16. I will break the staff of bread — They shall be besieged till all the bread is consumed, till the famine becomes absolute; see 2 Kings 25:3: "And on the ninth of the fourth month, the famine prevailed in the city; and THERE WAS NO BREAD for the people of the land." All this was accurately foretold, and as accurately fulfilled.

Abp. Newcome on Ezekiel 4:6 observes: "This number of years will take us back, with sufficient exactness, from the year in which Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar to the first year of Jeroboam's reign, when national idolatry began in Israel. The period of days seems to predict the duration of the siege by the Babylonians, Ezekiel 4:9, deducting from the year five months and twenty-nine days, mentioned 2 Kings 25:1-4, the time during which the Chaldeans were on their expedition against the Egyptians; see Jeremiah 37:5." This amounts nearly to the same as that mentioned above.