Ezekiel 12

The LORD's message came to me. He said:

1The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in capitals it is standing in for the personal name of God in Hebrew, written with four consonants (YHWH). Jewish readers did not say the name aloud, and translators have followed that custom by substituting "the LORD."

2"Son of man, you are living among a people who refuse to obey. They have eyes that could see, but they do not see. They have ears that could hear, but they do not hear. They are a people who refuse to obey.

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

Note"Son of man" is a Hebrew idiom meaning simply "human being" or "mortal." It is how God addresses Ezekiel throughout this book, more than ninety times; it is a form of address, not a title of honor.

3So, son of man, pack up your belongings like someone leaving home for good. In broad daylight, while they watch, move out from where you live and go somewhere else. Maybe they will pay attention, even though they refuse to obey.

3Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.

NoteEzekiel is himself living in Babylonia, among the Judeans deported in 597 BC, while Jerusalem still stands and still has a king. He is told to act out, in front of those fellow exiles, a second deportation still to come. Prophets sometimes delivered a message by performing it in public like a piece of street theater; the point was that onlookers would ask what it meant (see verse 9).

4Bring your bags out during the day, while they watch, packed the way someone packs to be taken away. Then in the evening, while they watch, go out like people being marched off as prisoners.

4Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity.

NoteThe "stuff for removing" is an exile's baggage: the single bundle a deportee could carry. Assyria and Babylon routinely marched conquered populations hundreds of miles to resettle them elsewhere, which is what "going into captivity" means here, not imprisonment, but forced relocation.

5While they watch, dig a hole through the wall and carry your belongings out through it.

5Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

NoteHouse walls were mud brick, soft enough to break through by hand. Leaving through a hole in the wall rather than the door is the behavior of someone escaping a city under siege, when the gates are watched or blocked.

6While they watch, lift your bags onto your shoulder and carry them out as it gets dark. Cover your face so you cannot see the land. I have made you a sign to the people of Israel."

6In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

Note"A sign" here means a person whose actions are themselves the message, an acted-out warning that bystanders are meant to interpret. The covered face is left unexplained in the Hebrew and can be read either way: so that he is not recognized, or so that he cannot look at the land he is leaving.

7So I did exactly what I was told. During the day I brought out my bags, packed the way a prisoner packs. In the evening I dug through the wall with my hands. As it grew dark I carried my things out on my shoulder while they watched.

7And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

8The next morning the LORD's message came to me. He said:

8And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,

9"Son of man, didn't the people of Israel, who refuse to obey, ask you, 'What are you doing?'

9Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?

10Tell them: This is what the Lord GOD says. This message is about the ruler in Jerusalem and about all the people of Israel who are there with him.

10Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.

Note"Lord GOD" translates a double Hebrew title, Adonai YHWH, roughly "Sovereign LORD." The King James "burden" is an old technical term for a prophetic oracle, particularly one announcing disaster. "The prince in Jerusalem" is Zedekiah, whom Babylon had installed as its vassal ruler; Ezekiel pointedly calls him "prince" (Hebrew nasi, chief or leader) rather than king.

11Say: I am a sign to you. What I have done will be done to them. They will be taken from their homes and carried off as prisoners.

11Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.

12The ruler who is among them will lift his bags onto his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so that his eyes cannot see the land.

12And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.

13I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans. He will not see it, and he will die there.

13My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there.

NoteNet and snare are hunting images: the equipment used to bring down a trapped animal. The apparent riddle (brought to Babylon but never seeing it, yet dying there) matches the account in 2 Kings 25:4-7, where Zedekiah escapes Jerusalem by night, is captured, and is blinded before being carried to Babylon. "Chaldeans" were a people of southern Mesopotamia whose dynasty then ruled Babylon; in this period the word is used interchangeably with "Babylonians."

14Everyone around him who helps him, and all his troops, I will scatter in every direction. And I will chase after them with a drawn sword.

14And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.

Note"Scatter toward every wind" is an idiom meaning to disperse in all four compass directions, with no group left together. To "draw out the sword after them" is to unsheathe a weapon and pursue: they are not merely let go, they are hunted.

15They will know that I am the LORD when I scatter them among the nations and spread them out through many countries.

15And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.

16But I will let a few of them survive the sword, the hunger, and the disease. They will tell about all the disgusting things they did, in the nations where they end up. Then they will know that I am the LORD."

16But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Note"Abominations" translates a Hebrew word for what is detestable or repellent, used especially of idol worship and the rituals that went with it; the King James "heathen" simply means the other nations. The Hebrew of the last clause says only "they shall know," and it is not clear whether "they" is the surviving exiles or the nations who hear their account.

17The LORD's message came to me again. He said:

17Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

18"Son of man, shake as you eat your food, and shake with fear and worry as you drink your water.

18Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;

NoteAnother acted-out message, this one performed by manner rather than movement: bread and water are the standard pair meaning a person's entire food and drink, and eating them shaking with fear is how people eat under siege, when food is rationed out and no one knows whether there will be more.

19Then say to the people of the land: This is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel. They will eat their food full of worry and drink their water in shock, so that her land may be stripped of everything in it. This is because of the violence of everyone living there.

19And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

Note"The people of the land" is normally a set phrase for the ordinary landholding citizens of Judah. Here Ezekiel is speaking to the exiles around him in Babylonia about those still living back in Jerusalem.

20The cities where people live will be turned into ruins, and the land will be left empty. Then you will know that I am the LORD."

20And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

21The LORD's message came to me. He said:

21And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

22"Son of man, what is this saying you people repeat in the land of Israel: 'Time drags on, and every vision comes to nothing'?

22Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?

NoteA "proverb" (Hebrew mashal) is a popular saying that circulates as a stock phrase, the way a catchphrase does. "Vision" is the ordinary term for a message a prophet receives, whether or not anything is actually seen; the saying means that prophecies keep being announced and nothing ever comes of them.

23So tell them: This is what the Lord GOD says. I am putting an end to that saying. No one in Israel will repeat it anymore. Instead, say this to them: The time is near when every vision will come true.

23Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

24There will be no more false visions and no more fortune-telling that only tells people what they want to hear, among the people of Israel.

24For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.

25I am the LORD. When I speak, the word I speak will happen. It will not be put off any longer. In your own lifetime, you people who refuse to obey, I will say the word and I will carry it out, says the Lord GOD."

25For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.

26The LORD's message came to me again. He said:

26Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

27"Son of man, listen: the people of Israel are saying, 'The vision he sees is for many years from now. He is talking about a time far in the future.'

27Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off.

28So tell them: This is what the Lord GOD says. None of my words will be put off any longer. What I have spoken will be done, says the Lord GOD."

28Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.