Ezekiel 12

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.

“Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house, where they have eyes to see but they do not see; and where they have ears to hear but do not listen, because they are a rebellious house.

3 Thou, therefore, O son of man, prepare thee all necessaries for removing, and remove by day in their sight: and thou shalt remove out of thy place to another place in their sight, if so be they will regard it: for they are a provoking house.

Therefore as for you, son of man, prepare your things for exile, and begin going out by day in their sight, for I will exile you in their sight from your place to another place. Perhaps they will begin to see, though they are a rebellious house.

4 And thou shalt bring forth thy furniture as the furniture of one that is removing by day in their sight: and thou shalt go forth in the evening in their presence, as one goeth forth that removeth his dwelling.

You will bring out your things for an exile in the day in their sight; go out in the evening in their sight in the way that anyone goes into exile.

5 Dig thee a way through the wall before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth through it.

Dig a hole through the wall in their sight, and go out through it.

6 In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men’s shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.

In their sight, lift up your things onto your shoulder, and bring them out in the darkness. Cover your face, for you must not see the land, since I have set you as a sign to the house of Israel.”

7 I did therefore as he had commanded me: I brought forth my goods by day, as the goods of one that removeth: and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand: and I went forth in the dark, and was carried on men’s shoulders in their sight.

So I did this, just as I was commanded. I brought out my things of exile in the daytime, and in the evening I dug a hole through the wall by hand. I brought my things out in the dark, and lifted them up on my shoulder in their sight.

8 And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:

Then the word of Yahweh came to me in the morning, saying,

9 Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee: What art thou doing?

“Son of man, is the house of Israel, that rebellious house, not asking, 'What are you doing?'

10 Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: This burden concerneth my prince that is in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel, that are among them.

Say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: this prophetic action concerns the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel in whose midst they are.'

11 Say: I am a sign of things to come to you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall be removed from their dwellings, and go into captivity.

Say, 'I am a sign to you.' As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile and into captivity.

12 And the prince that is in the midst of them, shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go forth in the dark: they shall dig through the wall to bring him out: his face shall be covered, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.

The prince who is among them will lift up his things upon his shoulder in the dark, and will go out through the wall. They will dig through the wall and bring out their things. He will cover his face, so he will not see the land with his eyes.

13 And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.

I will spread out my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; then I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it. He will die there.

14 And all that are about him, his guards, and his troops I will scatter into every wind: and I will draw out the sword after them.

I will also scatter in every direction all of those around him who were to assist him and his entire army, and I will send out a sword after them.

15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have dispersed them among the nations, and scattered them in the countries.

Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.

16 And I will leave a few men of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the pestilence: that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall go: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

But I will spare a few men from among them from the sword, famine, and plague, so they may record all of their abominations in the lands where I take them, so they will know that I am Yahweh.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, eat thy bread in trouble: and drink thy water in hurry and sorrow.

“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with shaking and worry.

19 And say to the people of the land: Thus saith the Lord God to them that dwell in Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in care, and drink their water in desolation: that the land may become desolate from the multitude that is therein, for the iniquity of all that dwell therein.

Then say to the people of the land, 'The Lord Yahweh says this concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with trembling and drink their water while shaking, since the land will be despoiled of its fullness because of the violence of all those who live there.

20 And the cities that are now inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

So the cities that were inhabited will be desolate, and the land will become a wasteland; so you will know that I am Yahweh.”'”

21 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel? saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail.

“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel that says, 'The days are prolonged, and every vision fails'?

23 Say to them therefore: Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, neither shall it be any more a common saying in Israel: and tell them that the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

Therefore, say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: I will put an end to this proverb, and the people of Israel will no longer use it.' Say to them, 'The days have drawn near when every vision will be fulfilled.

24 For there shall be no more any vain visions, nor doubtful divination in the midst of the children of Israel.

For there will no longer be any false visions or favorable divinations within the house of Israel.

25 For I the Lord will speak: and what word soever I shall speak, it shall come to pass, and shall not be prolonged any more: but in your days, ye provoking house, I will speak the word, and will do it, saith the Lord God.

For I am Yahweh! I speak, and I carry out the words that I speak. The matter will no longer be delayed. For I will speak this word in your days, rebellious house, and I will carry it out!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”

26 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Again the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

27 Son of man, behold the house of Israel, they that say: The vision that this man seeth, is for many days to come: and this men prophesieth of times afar off.

“Son of man! Behold, the house of Israel has said, 'The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and he prophesies of far off times.'

28 Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Not one word of mine shall be prolonged any more: the word that I shall speak shall be accomplished, saith the Lord God.

Therefore say to them, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: My words will not be delayed any longer, but the word that I have spoken will be done—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.'”