Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

And he said to me: Behold I have given thee neat's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt make thy bread therewith.

And He saith unto me, 'See, I have given to thee bullock's dung instead of man's dung, and thou hast made thy bread by it.'

Then he said to me, See, I have given you cow's waste in place of man's waste, and you will make your bread ready on it.

And he said to me: "Behold, I have given to you cow manure in place of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it."

Et dixit mihi, Vide, dedi tibi stercori bovis pro stercoribus hominis, et facies panem tuum super illa. [98]

Then he said to me, Lo, I have given thee cow's (m) dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread with them.
(m) To be as fire to bake your bread with.

Then he said to me,.... The Lord hearkened to the prophet's prayer and argument, and makes some abatement and alteration in the charge he gave him:
lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung: that is, allowed him to make use of the one instead of the other, in baking his mingled bread:
thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith; having gathered cow's dung, and dried it, he was to burn it, and bake his bread with it, which is meant by preparing it. In some parts of our nation, where fuel is scarce, cow's dung is made use of; it is gathered and plastered on the walls of houses, and, being dried in clots, is taken and burnt.

cow's dung--a mitigation of the former order (Ezekiel 4:12); no longer "the dung of man"; still the bread so baked is "defiled," to imply that, whatever partial abatement there might be for the prophet's sake, the main decree of God, as to the pollution of Israel by exile among Gentiles, is unalterable.