Take for yourself an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city: and set your face toward it. It shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Parallel translations
- KJV Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
- BSB Then take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
- NKJV Moreover take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
- NASB Then get yourself an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city, and direct your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
- NLT Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. This will be a warning to the people of Israel.
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 sets an iron pan as a wall between himself and the city as a sign to Israel. The iron barrier pictures God's firm judgment against Jerusalem.
Overview
The iron plate represents an unyielding separation, symbolizing God's set determination to besiege the city. Ezekiel, acting in God's place, sets his face against Jerusalem in judgment. The act is explicitly called 'a sign to the house of Israel,' demanding their attention. It dramatizes the seriousness of God's righteous response to persistent sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 12:6In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face, so that you don’t see the land, for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.”
- Isa 20:3Yahweh said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,
- Isa 8:18Behold, I and the children whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from Yahweh of Armies, who dwells in Mount Zion.
- Ezek 12:11“Say, ‘I am your sign. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.
- Ezek 24:24–27Thus Ezekiel shall be a sign to you; according to all that he has done, you will do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.
- Luke 2:34and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.
- Jer 39:1When Jerusalem was taken, (in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it.
- Heb 2:4God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders, by various works of power, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will?
- Lev 2:5If your offering is a meal offering of the griddle, it shall be of unleavened fine flour, mixed with oil.
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How Ezekiel 4:3 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
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