Ezekiel 12

¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

² ‘Son of man, you are living with that set of rebels who have eyes and never see, ears and never hear, for they are a set of rebels.

³ You, son of man, pack an exile’s bundle and emigrate by daylight when they can see you, emigrate from where you are to somewhere else while they watch. Perhaps they will admit then that they are a set of rebels.

⁴ You will pack your baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight, for them to see, and leave like an exile in the evening, making sure that they are looking.

⁵ As they watch, make a hole in the wall, and go out through it.

⁶ As they watch, you will shoulder your pack and go out into the dark; you will cover your face so that you cannot see the country, since I have made you a symbol for the House of Israel.’

⁷ I did as I had been told. I packed my baggage like an exile’s bundle, by daylight; and in the evening I made a hole through the wall with my hand. I went out into the dark and shouldered my pack as they watched.

⁸ The next morning the word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

⁹ ‘Son of man, did not the House of Israel, did not that set of rebels, ask you what you were doing?

¹⁰ Say, “The Lord Yahweh says this: This oracle is directed against Jerusalem and the whole House of Israel wherever they are living”.

¹¹ Say, “I am a symbol for you; the thing I have done will be done to them; they will go into exile, into banishment”.

¹² Their ruler will shoulder his pack in the dark and go out through the wall; a hole will be made to let him out; he will cover his face rather than see the country,[*a]

¹³ I shall throw my net over him and catch him in my mesh; I shall take him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldaeans, though he will not see it; and there he will die.

¹⁴ And all those who form his court, his guards and all his troops, I shall scatter to all the winds and unsheathe the sword behind them.

¹⁵ They will learn that I am Yahweh, when I scatter them throughout the nations and disperse them in foreign countries.

¹⁶ However, I intend to leave some of them unscathed by sword, famine and plague, to describe all their filthy practices to the peoples among whom they will go, so that these too may learn that I am Yahweh.’

¹⁷ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

¹⁸ ‘Son of man, you are to tremble as you eat your bread and to behave restlessly and anxiously as you drink your water,

¹⁹ and you are to say to the people of the country, “The Lord Yahweh says this to the citizens of Jerusalem scattered throughout Israel: They are going to eat their bread in anxiety, and drink their water in fear, until the country and those who live in it are free of the violence of all its inhabitants.

²⁰ The inhabited towns are going to be destroyed and the country will be reduced to desert; and so you will learn that I am Yahweh.”‘

²¹ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

²² ‘Son of man, what do you mean by this proverb common throughout the land of Israel: Days go by and visions fade?

²³ ‘Very well, tell them, “The Lord Yahweh says this: I will put an end to this proverb; it shall never be heard in Israel again”. Instead, tell them: “The day is coming when every vision will come true.”

²⁴ From now on there will be no empty vision, no deceitful prophecy in the House of Israel,

²⁵ since it is I, Yahweh, who will speak. What I say is said and will soon come true; since what I pronounce I will fulfil in your own lifetime, you set of rebels – it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.’

²⁶ The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

²⁷ ‘Son of man, the House of Israel is saying, “The vision that this man sees concerns the distant future; he is prophesying for times far ahead”.

²⁸ Very well, tell them, “The Lord Yahweh says this: There will be no further delay in the fulfilling of any of my words. What I say is said and will come true – it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.”‘