Ezekiel 4:9–17, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Ezekiel 4:9–17
Rationed Food, Water, and Defiled Fuel Portray Siege
Measured bread and water portray scarcity
Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and fitches, put them in one vessel, and make bread thereof according to the number of the days he lies on his side: three hundred and ninety days shall he eat thereof. Meat by weight, twenty shekels a day; water by measure, the sixth part of a hin.
Barley cake baked with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight, is the first instruction. Thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither the LORD will drive them.
Ezekiel objects, and cow dung is granted
Ah Lord GOD, behold, his soul has not been polluted; from his youth he has not eaten of that which dieth of itself or is torn, neither came abominable flesh into his mouth. God allows cow's dung for man's dung to prepare the bread. Then the interpretation: staff of bread broken, water drunk with astonishment, pine away for iniquity.
Enacted impurity does not demean people who lack food or sanitation. It does not authorize unsafe fasting, contaminated food practices, or shaming the hungry. Siege rations are a warning, not a wellness plan.
How this should shape us
Let the mixed loaf stay a picture of anxious scarcity. Feed people; do not copy defilement; do not treat hunger as a spiritual hobby.
Teach it back
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Ezekiel 4:9–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 4:9–17
Supports: Verse-level controls for difficult Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, place names, textual issues, vision language, and material alternatives.
Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 4:9–17
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with visible alternatives and ancient-to-modern limits.
Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: signs, temple judgment, and departing glory; applied to Ezekiel 4:9–17
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 1-2 study guides: temple vision, judgment, responsibility, and presence; applied to Ezekiel 4:9–17
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Ezekiel 4:9–17, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Ezekiel
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ezek.xml, OSIS 4:9–17
Open the fixed Hebrew Ezekiel file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Ezekiel
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2016; current official PDF
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Exact location: Official NET Ezekiel PDF, exact translator, study, and textual notes attached to Ezekiel 4:9–17
Open the official NET Ezekiel PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Ezekiel course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, themes, and passage studies
Alan G. Padgett; revised by Tyler Mayfield
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised June 2023
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Exact location: Enter the Bible Ezekiel course, Outline and passage studies: signs, temple judgment, and departing glory; applied to Ezekiel 4:9–17
Open the Enter the Bible Ezekiel course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Ezekiel Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and interpretive questions, including ethical attention to gendered rhetoric and the final vision.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Ezekiel Parts 1-2 study guides: temple vision, judgment, responsibility, and presence; applied to Ezekiel 4:9–17
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