And water you shall drink by measure, the sixth part of a hin: Ezekiel’s water was rationed in the same way as his food. He was allowed the sixth part of a hin, that is, about 0.6 liter (1 pint). Translators should not be too specific here, but the volume chosen should represent a very small amount of water. “A small container” or “two cups” (Good News Translation) is acceptable, but “one liter” (Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982)) is too much.

Once a day you shall drink is literally “from time to time you must drink” (see the comments on verse 10). Like the loaf of bread, Ezekiel had to drink this water once a day at the same time each day.

Models for this verse are:

• And you can drink water only once a day, about two cups and always at the same time.

• Once each day, at the same time, you can drink two small cups of water.

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .