Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;
Parallel translations
- WEB “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness.
- BSB “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
- NKJV “Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety.
- NASB “Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
- NLT “Son of man, tremble as you eat your food. Shake with fear as you drink your water.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ezekiel is to eat and drink with trembling and fear, picturing the anxiety of those under siege.
Overview
The prophet acts out the dread that will grip Jerusalem when food and water become scarce and survival uncertain. His shaking meal preaches the coming terror more powerfully than words. The sign warns that sin's consequences bring not just loss but consuming fear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Lam 5:9We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness.
- Ps 60:2–3Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
- Ps 80:5Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
- Lev 26:26And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
- Deut 28:48Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
- Lev 26:36And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
- Ezek 4:16–17Moreover 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:
- Job 3:24For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters.
- Deut 28:65And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
- Ps 102:4–9My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
- Ezek 23:33Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 12:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.