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.
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover 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;
- KJV 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:
- NKJV 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,
- NASB 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,
- NLT 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.
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
God announces He will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, so people eat in fear and dread. The siege will bring anxious scarcity to all.
Overview
The Lord declares He will cut off Jerusalem's food supply, the very support of life, so that bread and water are taken in dread. The phrase 'staff of bread' pictures bread as the prop that holds up life, now to be shattered. This judgment fulfills the covenant curses of Leviticus 26, showing that God's warnings are never empty threats.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 5:16When I shower you with the deadly arrows of famine and destruction that I will send to destroy you, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of food.
- Isa 3:1For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,
- Lev 26:26When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.
- Ezek 12:18–19“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
- Ps 105:16He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
- Ezek 4:10–11You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.
- Ezek 14:13“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,
- Lam 1:11All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised.
- Lam 5:9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
- Lam 4:9–10Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
- Ps 60:3You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
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Original language
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