Ezekiel 12
1 And the word of the Lord came to me,
saying, 2 Son of man, thou dwellest in
the midst of the iniquities of those, who have eyes to see, and see not; and
have ears to hear, and hear not: because it is a provoking house.
3 Thou therefore, son of man, prepare
thyself baggage for going into captivity by day in their sight; and thou shalt
be led into captivity from thy place into another place in their sight; that
they may see that it is a provoking house.
4 And thou shalt carry forth thy
baggage, baggage for captivity, by day before their eyes: and thou shalt go
forth at even, as a captive goes forth, in their sight.
5 Dig for thyself into the wall
of the house, and thou shalt pass through it in their
sight: 6 thou shalt be lifted up on
men's shoulders, and shalt go forth in secret: thou
shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: because I have made thee a
sign to the house of Israel.
7 And I did thus according to all that
he commanded me; and I carried forth my baggage for captivity by day, and in
the evening I dug through the wall for myself, and went out secretly; I was
taken up on men's shoulders before them.
8 And the word of the Lord came to me
in the morning, saying, 9 Son of man,
have not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee, What doest
thou? 10 Say to them,
Thus saith the Lord God, the Prince and the Ruler in Israel, even to all the
house of Israel who are in the midst of them:
11 say, I am performing signs: as I
have done, so shall it be to him: they shall go into banishment and captivity.
12 And the prince in the midst of
them shall be borne upon shoulders, and shall go forth in secret through the
wall, and shall dig so that he may go forth thereby: he shall cover his face,
that he may not be seen by any eye, and he himself
shall not see the ground. 13 And I
will spread out my net upon him, and he shall be caught in my toils: and I
will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; but he shall not see
it, though he shall die there. 14 And
I will scatter to every wind all his assistants round about him, and all that
help him; and I will draw out a sword after them.
15 And they shall know that I am the
Lord, when I have scattered them among the nations; and I will disperse them
in the countries.
16 And I will leave of them
a few men in number
spared from the sword, and from famine, and from
pestilence; that they may declare all their iniquities among the nations
whither they have gone; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
17 And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 18 Son of man, eat thy
bread with sorrow, and drink thy water with torment
and affliction. 19 And thou shalt say
to the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
on the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread in scarcity, and shall drink
their water in desolation, that the land may be desolate with all that it
contains: for all that dwell in it are ungodly.
20 And their inhabited cities shall
be laid utterly waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that
I am the Lord.
21 And the word of the Lord came to
me, saying, 22 Son of man, what is
your parable on the land of Israel, that ye say, The days are long, the vision
has perished? 23 Therefore say to
them,
Thus saith the Lord; I will even set aside this parable, and the house of
Israel shall no more at all use this parable: for thou shalt say to them, The
days are at hand, and the import of every vision.
24 For there shall no more be any
false vision, nor any one prophesying flatteries in the midst of the children
of Israel. 25 For I the Lord will
speak my words; I will speak and perform them, and
will no more delay, for in your days, O provoking house, I will speak the
word, and will perform it, saith the Lord.
26 Moreover the word of the Lord came
to me, saying, 27 Son of man, behold,
the provoking house of Israel boldly say, The vision which this man sees is
for many days, and he prophesies for times afar off.
28 Therefore say to them,
Thus saith the Lord; Henceforth none of my words shall linger, which I shall
speak: I will speak and do, saith the Lord.