Ezekiel 4:16

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“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.”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Ezekiel 4:16 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“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.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“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:”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“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 fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“And He saith unto me, `Son of man, lo, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they have eaten bread by weight and with fear; and water by measure and with astonishment, they do drink;”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Ezekiel 4:16 — 13 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Leviticus 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.
  2. 2 Kings 6:25So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove’s dung sold for five shekels of silver.
  3. 2 Kings 25:3By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.
  4. Psalms 60:3You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
  5. Psalms 105:16He called down famine on the land and cut off all their supplies of food.
  6. Isaiah 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,
  7. Lamentations 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.
  8. Lamentations 4:9Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.
  9. Lamentations 5:9We get our bread at the risk of our lives because of the sword in the wilderness.
  10. Ezekiel 4:10You are to weigh out twenty shekels of food to eat each day, and you are to eat it at set times.
  11. Ezekiel 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.
  12. Ezekiel 12:18“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.
  13. Ezekiel 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,

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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