以西結書5:1-12

5:1 「人子啊，你要拿一把快刀，當作剃頭刀，用這刀剃你的頭髮和你的鬍鬚，用天平將鬚髮平分。

5:2 圍困城的日子滿了，你要將三分之一在城中用火焚燒，將三分之一在城的四圍用刀砍碎，將三分之一任風吹散；我也要拔刀追趕。

5:3 你要從其中取幾根包在衣襟裡，

5:4 再從這幾根中取些扔在火中焚燒，從裡面必有火出來燒入以色列全家。

5:5 主耶和華如此說：這就是耶路撒冷。我曾將她安置在列邦之中；列國都在她的四圍。

5:6 她行惡，違背我的典章，過於列國；干犯我的律例，過於四圍的列邦，因為她棄掉我的典章。至於我的律例，她並沒有遵行。

5:7 所以主耶和華如此說：因為你們紛爭過於四圍的列國，也不遵行我的律例，不謹守我的典章，並以遵從四圍列國的惡規尚不滿意，

5:8 所以主耶和華如此說：看哪，我與你反對，必在列國的眼前，在你中間，施行審判；

5:9 並且因你一切可憎的事，我要在你中間行我所未曾行的，以後我也不再照著行。

5:10 在你中間父親要吃兒子，兒子要吃父親。我必向你施行審判，我必將你所剩下的分散四方（方：原文是風）。」

5:11 主耶和華說：「我指著我的永生起誓，因你用一切可憎的物、可厭的事玷污了我的聖所，故此，我定要使你人數減少，我眼必不顧惜你，也不可憐你。

5:12 你的民三分之一必遭瘟疫而死，在你中間必因饑荒消滅；三分之一必在你四圍倒在刀下；我必將三分之一分散四方（方：原文是風），並要拔刀追趕他們。

1 "And you, O son of man, take a sharp sword. Use it as a barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard. Then take balances for weighing and divide the hair. 2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are completed. And a third part you shall take and strike with the sword all around the city. And a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 3 And you shall take from these a small number and bind them in the skirts of your robe. 4 And of these again you shall take some and cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there a fire will come out into all the house of Israel.

5 "Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6 And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God:Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, 8 therefore thus says the Lord God:Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.

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以西結剃頭與砍頭髮的刀是同一把，這樣那把刀就不會是短短的剃頭刀，而是大型的刀子（可能是一種軍用武器）。以色列人通常不剃頭髮與鬍鬚，祭司剃髮是律法不許可的，除非是哀悼的時候，才可以這樣做，表示要為以色列百姓哀悼。

這裡說到以色列人有三種命運，其意義應該是少數被擄到外國的餘民會蒙拯救，保留生命。但這些人中間有人還會被殺。耶路撒冷將導致所有以色列人遭難。之所以如此是耶路撒冷背叛上帝，甚至也不遵守列國的法規，背叛成性，所以上帝要對他施以空前絕後的懲罰。

    先知對耶路撒冷之以色列人的警告，是從上帝來的。但是，這樣的話中仍然要以色列人悔改，並且也讓他們知道上帝仍有恩典留下「餘種」。這是舊約聖經中很重要的信息，上帝的拯救就是為以色列人留「餘種」，這是以色列復興的盼望！

以西結書4:9-17

4:9 你要取小麥、大麥、豆子、紅豆、小米、粗麥，裝在一個器皿中，用以為自己做餅；要按你側臥的三百九十日吃這餅。

4:10 你所吃的要按分兩吃，每日二十舍客勒，按時而吃。

4:11 你喝水也要按制子，每日喝一欣六分之一，按時而喝。

4:12 你吃這餅像吃大麥餅一樣，要用人糞在眾人眼前燒烤。」

4:13 耶和華說：「以色列人在我所趕他們到的各國中，也必這樣吃不潔淨的食物。」

4:14 我說：「哎！主耶和華啊，我素來未曾被玷污，從幼年到如今沒有吃過自死的，或被野獸撕裂的，那可憎的肉也未曾入我的口。」

4:15 於是他對我說：「看哪，我給你牛糞代替人糞，你要將你的餅烤在其上。」

4:16 他又對我說：「人子啊，我必在耶路撒冷折斷他們的杖，就是斷絕他們的糧。他們吃餅要按分兩，憂慮而吃；喝水也要按制子，驚惶而喝；

4:17 使他們缺糧缺水，彼此驚惶，因自己的罪孽消滅。」

“And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and emmer, and put them into a single vessel and make your bread from them. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it.  And your food that you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from day to day you shall eat it.  And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from day to day you shall drink.  And you shall eat it as a barley cake, baking it in their sight on human dung.”  And the Lord said, “Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations where I will drive them.”  Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.”  Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.”  Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.  I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment.

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「小麥、大麥」，這兩樣算是以色列人的主要糧食，「豆子、紅豆、小米、粗麥」則算是「雜糧」。通常以色列人做餅為主食，主要是用小麥與大麥，混著雜糧一起做，大概就是飢荒的時候才會發生。

《利未記19:19》禁止以色列人「混種」耕種，但是律法並沒有禁止混用穀類煮食。不過實際上當時以色列也很少有人混著吃各種穀類。因此有學者認為這可能是巴比倫的習俗，至少應該奇異到可以引起以色列人的注意。

以西結目前要做的，就是以色列人被擄到外國之後的狀況：沒有辦法再堅持自己的潔淨律，為了生存只好吃不潔淨的食物。使用牛糞烹煮，應該也會使得食物不潔淨。但是以色列周遭的民族都常常使用牛、駱駝等乾燥的糞便作為燃料，至少不會像「人糞」這樣具有衝擊性。

而以西結這樣做是要宣告：耶路撒冷將要面臨被圍城導致的飢荒。要他們認識上帝必定會管教以色列人，讓他們知道：他們不遵行上帝的律法之後果！這是先知很重要之使命！要他們受警告而悔改（回歸上帝面前），不管他們聽不聽。

以西結書4章

             以西結書4:1-8  , 以西結書4:9-17    ,

以西結書4:1-8

4:1 「人子啊，你要拿一塊磚，擺在你面前，將一座耶路撒冷城畫在其上，

4:2 又圍困這城，造臺築壘，安營攻擊，在四圍安設撞錘攻城，

4:3 又要拿個鐵鏊，放在你和城的中間，作為鐵牆。你要對面攻擊這城，使城被困；這樣，好作以色列家的預兆。

4:4 你要向左側臥，承當以色列家的罪孽；要按你向左側臥的日數，擔當他們的罪孽。

4:5 因為我已將他們作孽的年數定為你向左側臥的日數，就是三百九十日，你要這樣擔當以色列家的罪孽。

4:6 再者，你滿了這些日子，還要向右側臥，擔當猶大家的罪孽。我給你定規側臥四十日，一日頂一年。

4:7 你要露出膀臂，面向被困的耶路撒冷，說預言攻擊這城。

4:8 我用繩索捆綁你，使你不能輾轉，直等你滿了困城的日子。

​ “And you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, even Jerusalem.  And put siegeworks against it, and build a siege wall against it, and cast up a mound against it. Set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it all around.  And you, take an iron griddle, and place it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be in a state of siege, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel.

  “Then lie on your left side, and place the punishment of the house of Israel upon it. For the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their punishment.  For I assign to you a number of days, 390 days, equal to the number of the years of their punishment. So long shall you bear the punishment of the house of Israel.  And when you have completed these, you shall lie down a second time, but on your right side, and bear the punishment of the house of Judah. Forty days I assign you, a day for each year.  And you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with your arm bared, and you shall prophesy against the city.  And behold, I will place cords upon you, so that you cannot turn from one side to the other, till you have completed the days of your siege.

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這個景象其實不難理解，但是鐵製平底鍋與以西結的角色就讓人必須想一下才能體會了。以西結在此代表上帝，鐵鍋代表上帝與耶路撒冷的隔閡，以色列人的悖逆有如鐵牆擋住上帝與他們的關係，以致上帝主持整個圍城攻擊行動。

一般認為先知不是24小時就側臥在那裡完全不離開。可能是每天工作時間他就側臥在那裡，吃食物、喝水給大家看，晚上還是可以離開休息，也許也會補充營養。先知的行動等於是演一齣行動劇給被擄的群眾看。

我們不太知道「擔當他們的罪孽」是什麼意思，不過在這個「聲行動劇」中，以西結應該是扮演上帝的角色，所以比較可能是上帝「忍受」以色列與猶大人的頂撞。

先知的這一切讓我們知道：即使是上帝的選民都悖逆上帝，在上帝面前有罪，而非以色列人的各民族，更是不用說。怪不得上帝需要設立救恩，來救贖萬國萬民。

箴言2:11-12

2:11 謀略必護衛你；聰明必保守你，

2:12 要救你脫離惡道（或譯：惡人的道），脫離說乖謬話的人。

11Discretion will watch over you,and understanding will guard you, 12rescuing you from the way of evil —from the one who says perverse things,

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    這裡說到「謀略」和「聰明」是互相對的，是相似的性質，「護衛」和「保守」也是平行字，讓人感受到兩者是互相的。這也說明人必須有「謀略」和「聰明」，來保護自己。

    而「謀略」和「聰明」的保護是什麼呢？就是「脫離惡人的道」和「脫離說乖謬話的人」。因為這些人會將我們帶離耶和華，使我們不再敬畏上帝。而我們要遠離這些，就要靠上帝所賜的「謀略」和「聰明」，才能勝過。

    願上帝所賜的「謀略」和「聰明」，「護衛」和「保守」你，永平安！