Limitless Word
You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; from time to time you shall drink.
Ezekiel 4:11 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB You shall drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin. From time to time you shall drink.
  • KJV Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
  • BSB You are also to measure out a sixth of a hin of water to drink, and you are to drink it at set times.
  • NASB The water you drink shall be a sixth of a hin by measure; you shall drink it from time to time.
  • NLT Then measure out a jar of water for each day, and drink it at set times.

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

Water too is rationed by measure, only about a sixth of a hin daily. The siege brings even drinking water under severe restriction.

Overview

Alongside the meager bread, Ezekiel must drink water in tiny measured amounts at set times. The scarcity of water completes the picture of a city slowly starved and parched under siege. These signs press home that the comforts taken for granted are gifts that judgment can withdraw when a people forsake their God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Isa 5:13Therefore my people go into captivity for lack of knowledge. Their honorable men are famished, and their multitudes are parched with thirst.
  • John 3:34For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure.
  • Ezek 4:16Moreover he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They will eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ezekiel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ezekiel 4:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EzekielMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 4:11 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.