Ezéchiel (NAB) 1
1 1 In the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was among the exiles by the river Chebar, the heavens opened, and I saw divine visions.-- 2 On the fifth day of the month, the fifth year, that is, of King Jehoiachin's exile, 3 the word of the LORD came to the priest Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.-- There the hand of the LORD came upon me.
4 As I looked, a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire (enveloped in brightness), from the midst of which (the midst of the fire) something gleamed like electrum. 5 Within it were figures resembling four living creatures that looked like this: their form was human, 6 but each had four faces and four wings,7 and their legs went straight down; the soles of their feet were round. They sparkled with a gleam like burnished bronze.8 Human hands were under their wings, and the wings of one touched those of another.9 Their faces (and their wings) looked out on all their four sides; they did not turn when they moved, but each went straight forward.10 Their faces were like this: each of the four had the face of a man, but on the right side was the face of a lion, and on the left side the face of an ox, and finally each had the face of an eagle. 11 Each had two wings spread out above so that they touched one another's, while the other two wings of each covered his body.12 (Each went straight forward; wherever the spirit wished to go, there they went; they did not turn when they moved.)13 In among the living creatures something like burning coals of fire could be seen; they seemed like torches, moving to and fro among the living creatures. The fire gleamed, and from it came forth flashes of lightning.14
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw wheels on the ground, one beside each of the four living creatures.16 The wheels had the sparkling appearance of chrysolite, and all four of them looked the same: they were constructed as though one wheel were within another.17 They could move in any of the four directions they faced, without veering as they moved.18 The four of them had rims, and I saw that their rims were full of eyes all around.19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved with them; and when the living creatures were raised from the ground, the wheels also were raised.20 Wherever the spirit wished to go, there the wheels went, and they were raised together with the living creatures; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.21 22 Over the heads of the living creatures, something like a firmament could be seen, seeming like glittering crystal, stretched straight out above their heads. 23 Beneath the firmament their wings were stretched out, one toward the other. (Each of them had two covering his body.)24 Then I heard the sound of their wings, like the roaring of mighty waters, like the voice of the Almighty. When they moved, the sound of the tumult was like the din of an army. (And when they stood still, they lowered their wings.)25
26 Above the firmament over their heads something like a throne could be seen, looking like sapphire. Upon it was seated, up above, one who had the appearance of a man. 27 Upward from what resembled his waist I saw what gleamed like electrum; downward from what resembled his waist I saw what looked like fire; he was surrounded with splendor.28 Like the bow which appears in the clouds on a rainy day was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I had seen it, I fell upon my face and heard a voice that said to me:
2 1 Son of man, stand up! I wish to speak with you. 2 As he spoke to me, spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard the one who was speaking
3 say to me: Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have revolted against me to this very day.4 Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you. But you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD!5 And whether they heed or resist-- for they are a rebellious house-- they shall know that a prophet has been among them.
6 But as for you, son of man, fear neither them nor their words when they contradict you and reject you, and when you sit on scorpions. Neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 (But speak my words to them, whether they heed or resist, for they are rebellious.)8 As for you, son of man, obey me when I speak to you: be not rebellious like this house of rebellion, but open your mouth and eat what I shall give you.
9 It was then I saw a hand stretched out to me, in which was a written scroll10 which he unrolled before me. It was covered with writing front and back, and written on it was: Lamentation and wailing and woe!
3 1 He said to me: Son of man, eat what is before you; eat this scroll, then go, speak to the house of Israel.2 So I opened my mouth and he gave me the scroll to eat.
3 Son of man, he then said to me, feed your belly and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you. I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. He said:
4 Son of man, go now to the house of Israel, and speak my words to them.5 Not to a people with difficult speech and barbarous language am I sending you,6 nor to the many peoples (with difficult speech and barbarous language) whose words you cannot understand. If I were to send you to these, they would listen to you;7 but the house of Israel will refuse to listen to you, since they will not listen to me. For the whole house of Israel is stubborn of brow and obstinate in heart.8 But I will make your face as hard as theirs, and your brow as stubborn as theirs,9 like diamond, harder than flint. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
10 Son of man, he said to me, take into your heart all my words that I speak to you; hear them well.11 Now go to the exiles, to your countrymen, and say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD!-- whether they heed or resist!
12 Then spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me the noise of a loud rumbling as the glory of the LORD rose from its place: 13 the noise made by the wings of the living creatures striking one another, and by the wheels alongside them, a loud rumbling.14 The spirit which had lifted me up seized me, and I went off spiritually stirred, while the hand of the LORD rested heavily upon me.15 Thus I came to the exiles who lived at Tel-abib by the river Chebar, and for seven days I sat among them distraught.
16 At the end of seven days... 17 Thus the word of the LORD came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. 18 If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.19 If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.20 If a virtuous man turns away from virtue and does wrong when I place a stumbling block before him, he shall die. He shall die for his sin, and his virtuous deeds shall not be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for his death if you did not warn him.21 When, on the other hand, you have warned a virtuous man not to sin, and he has in fact not sinned, he shall surely live because of the warning, and you shall save your own life.
22 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he said to me: Get up and go out into the plain, where I will speak with you. 23 So I got up and went out into the plain, and I saw that the glory of the LORD was in that place, like the glory I had seen by the river Chebar. I fell prone,24 but then spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me. He said to me: Go shut yourself up in your house.25 (As for you, son of man, they will put cords upon you and bind you with them, so that you cannot go out among them.)26 I will make your tongue stick to your palate so that you will be dumb and unable to rebuke them for being a rebellious house. 27 Only when I speak with you and open your mouth, shall you say to them: Thus says the Lord GOD! Let him heed who will, and let him resist who will, for they are a rebellious house.
4 1 As for you, son of man, take a clay tablet; lay it in front of you, and draw on it a city (Jerusalem).2 Raise a siege against it: build a tower, lay out a ramp, pitch camps, and set up batteringrams all around.3 Then take an iron griddle and set it up as an iron wall between you and the city. Fix your gaze on it: it shall be in the state of siege, and you shall besiege it. This shall be a sign for the house of Israel.
4 Then you shall lie on your left side, while I place the sins of the house of Israel upon you. As many days as you lie thus, you shall bear their sins.5 For the years of their sins I allot you the same number of days, three hundred and ninety, during which you will bear the sins of the house of Israel. 6 When you finish this, you are to lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the sins of the house of Judah forty days; one day for each year I have allotted you.7 Fixing your gaze on the siege of Jerusalem, with bared arm you shall prophesy against it. 8 See, I will bind you with cords so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege.
9 Again, take wheat and barley, and beans and lentils, and millet and spelt; put them in a single vessel and make bread out of them. Eat it for as many days as you lie upon your side, three hundred and ninety. 10 The food you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; each day the same.11 And the water you drink shall be the sixth of a hin by measure; each day the same.12 For your food you must bake barley loaves over human excrement in their sight, said the LORD.13 Thus the Israelites shall eat their food unclean among the nations where I scatter them.
14 "Oh no, Lord GOD!" I protested. "Never have I been made unclean, and from my youth till now, never have I eaten carrion flesh or that torn by wild beasts; never has any unclean meat entered my mouth."15 Very well, he replied, I allow you cow's dung in place of human excrement; bake your bread on that. 16 Then he said to me: Son of man, I am breaking the staff of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread which they have weighed out anxiously, and they shall drink water which they have measured out fearfully, 17 so that, owing to the scarcity of bread and water, everyone shall be filled with terror and waste away because of his sins.
5 1 As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it like a barber's razor, passing it over your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair you have cut.2 Burn a third in the fire, within the city, when the days of your siege are completed; place another third around the city and strike it with the sword; the final third strew in the wind, and pursue it with the sword. 3 (But of the last take a small number and tie them in the hem of your garment.4 Then take some of these and throw them in the midst of the fire and burn them.) Say to the whole house of Israel:
5 Thus says the Lord GOD: This is Jerusalem! In the midst of the nations I placed her, surrounded by foreign countries.6 But she rebelled against my ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against my statutes more than the foreign countries surrounding her; she has spurned my ordinances and has not lived by my statutes.7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have been more rebellious than the nations surrounding you, not living by my statutes nor fulfilling my ordinances, but acting according to the ordinances of the surrounding nations;8 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: See, I am coming at you! I will inflict punishments in your midst while the nations look on. 9 Because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never done before, the like of which I will never do again.10 This means that fathers within you shall eat sons, and sons shall eat fathers. I will inflict punishments upon you and scatter all that remain of your people in every direction. 11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable abominations, I swear to cut you down. I will not look upon you with pity nor have mercy.12 A third of your people shall die of pestilence and perish of hunger within you; another third shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third I will scatter in every direction, and I will pursue them with the sword.
13 Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will wreak my fury upon them till I am appeased; they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken in my jealousy when I spend my fury upon them.14 I will make you a waste and a reproach among the nations that surround you, which every passer-by may see.15 When I execute judgment upon you in anger and fury and with furious chastisements, you shall be a reproach and an object of scorn, a terrible warning to the nations that surround you. I, the LORD, have spoken! 16 When I loose against you the cruel, destructive arrows of hunger, I will break your staff of bread;17 I will send famine against you, and wild beasts that shall rob you of your children. Pestilence and bloodshed shall stalk through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I, the LORD, have spoken!
6 1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, turn toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them:
3 Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD (to the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys): See, I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.
4 Your altars shall be laid waste, your incense stands shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain ones before your idols;
5 I will scatter their bones all around your altars.
6 In all your dwelling places cities shall be made desolate and high places laid waste, so that your altars will be made desolate and laid waste, your idols broken and removed, and your incense stands smashed to bits.
7 (The slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.
8 I have warned you.) When some of your people have escaped to other nations from the sword, and have been scattered over the foreign lands,
9 then those who have escaped will remember me among the nations to which they have been exiled, after I have broken their adulterous hearts that turned away from me (and their eyes which lusted after idols). They shall loathe themselves because of their evil deeds, all their abominations.
10 Then they shall know that it was not in vain that I, the LORD, threatened to inflict this calamity upon them.
11 Thus says the Lord GOD: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry "Alas!" because of all the abominations of the house of Israel, for which they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
12 He that is far off shall die of pestilence, he that is near shall fall by the sword, and he that is besieged shall perish by famine; so will I spend my fury upon them.
13 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when their slain shall lie amid their idols, all about their altars, on every high hill and mountaintop, beneath every green tree and leafy oak, wherever they offered appeasing odors to any of their gods.
14 I will stretch out my hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the desert to Riblah; thus shall they know that I am the LORD.
7 1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, now say: Thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel: An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land!
3 Now the end is upon you; I will unleash my anger against you and judge you according to your conduct and lay upon you the consequences of all your abominations.
4 I will not look upon you with pity nor have mercy; I will bring your conduct down upon you, and the consequences of your abominations shall be in your midst; then shall you know that I am the LORD.
5 Thus says the Lord GOD: Disaster upon disaster! See it coming!
6 An end is coming, the end is coming upon you! See it coming!
7 The climax has come for you who dwell in the land! The time has come, near is the day: a time of consternation, not of rejoicing.
8 Soon now I will pour out my fury upon you and spend my anger upon you; I will judge you according to your conduct and lay upon you the consequences of all your abominations.
9 I will not look upon you with pity nor have mercy; I will deal with you according to your conduct, and the consequences of your abominations shall be in your midst; then shall you know that it is I, the LORD, who strike.
10 See, the day of the LORD! See, the end is coming! Lawlessness is in full bloom, insolence flourishes,
11 violence has risen to support wickedness. It shall not be long in coming, nor shall it delay.
12 The time has come, the day dawns. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller mourn, for wrath shall be upon all the throng.
13 The seller shall not regain what he sold as long as he lives, for wrath shall be upon all the throng. Because of his sins, no one shall preserve his life.
14 They shall sound the trumpet and make everything ready, yet no one shall go to war, for my wrath is upon all the throng.
15 The sword is outside; pestilence and hunger are within. He that is in the country shall die by the sword; pestilence and famine shall devour those in the city.
16 Even those who escape and flee to the mountains like the doves of the valleys-- I will put them all to death, each one for his own sins.
17 All their hands shall be limp, and all their knees shall run with water.
18 They shall put on sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; shame shall be on all their faces and baldness on all their heads.
19 They shall fling their silver into the streets, and their gold shall be considered refuse. Their silver and gold cannot save them on the day of the LORD'S wrath. They shall not be allowed to satisfy their craving or fill their bellies, for this has been the occasion of their sin.
20 In the beauty of their ornaments they put their pride: they made of them their abominable images (their idols). For this reason I make them refuse.
21 I will hand them over as booty to foreigners, to be spoiled and defiled by the wicked of the earth.
22 I will turn away my face from them, and my treasure shall be profaned: robbers shall enter and profane it.
23 They shall wreak slaughter, for the land is filled with bloodshed and the city full of violence.
24 I will bring in the worst of the nations, who shall take possession of their houses. I will put an end to their proud strength, and their sanctuaries shall be profaned.
25 When anguish comes they shall seek peace, but there will be none.
26 There shall be disaster after disaster, rumor after rumor. Prophetic vision shall fade; instruction shall be lacking to the priest, and counsel to the elders,
27 while the prince shall be enveloped in terror, and the hands of the common people shall tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and according to their judgments I will judge them; thus they shall know that I am the LORD.
8 1 On the fifth day of the sixth month, in the sixth year, as I was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, the hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there.
2 I looked up and saw a form that looked like a man. Downward from what seemed to be his waist, there was fire; from his waist upward there seemed to be a brightness like the sheen of electrum. He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and seized me by the hair of my head.... 3 Spirit lifted me up in the air and brought me in divine visions to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where stood the statue of jealousy which stirs up jealousy. 4 I saw there the glory of the God of Israel, like the vision I had seen in the plain. The cherubim were stationed to the right of the temple;
5 He said to me: Son of man, look toward the north! I looked toward the north and saw northward of the gate the altar of the statue of jealousy. 6 Son of man, he asked me, do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great abominations that the house of Israel is practicing here, so that I must depart from my sanctuary? But you shall see still greater abominations!
7 Then he brought me to the entrance of the court, where I saw there was a hole in the wall.8 Son of man, he ordered, dig through the wall. I dug through the wall and saw a door.9 Enter, he said to me, and see the abominable evils which they are doing here.10 I entered and saw that all around upon the wall were pictured the figures of all kinds of creeping things and loathsome beasts (all the idols of the house of Israel). 11 Before these stood seventy of the elders of the house of Israel, among whom stood Jaazaniah, son of Shaphan, each of them with his censer in his hand, and the fragrance of the incense was rising upward.12 Then he said to me: Do you see, son of man, what each of these elders of the house of Israel is doing in his idol room? They think: "The LORD cannot see us; the LORD has forsaken the land."13 He continued: You shall see still greater abominations that they are practicing.
14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the temple, and I saw sitting there the women who were weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me: Do you see this, son of man? You shall see other abominations, greater than these!
16 Then he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and there at the door of the LORD'S temple, between the vestibule and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the LORD'S temple and their faces toward the east; they were bowing down to the sun. 17 Do you see, son of man? he asked me. Is it such a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the abominable things they have done here-- for they have filled the land with violence, and again and again they have provoked me-- that now they must also put the branch to my nose? 18 Therefore I in turn will act furiously: I will not look upon them with pity nor will I show mercy.
9 1 Then he cried loud for me to hear: Come, you scourges of the city!
2 With that I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate which faces the north, each with a destroying weapon in his hand. In their midst was a man dressed in linen, with a writer's case at his waist. They entered and stood beside the bronze altar.3 Then he called to the man dressed in linen with the writer's case at his waist,4 saying to him: Pass through the city (through Jerusalem) and mark an X on the foreheads of those who moan and groan over all the abominations that are practiced within it. 5 To the others I heard him say: Pass through the city after him and strike! Do not look on them with pity nor show any mercy!6 Old men, youths and maidens, women and children-- wipe them out! But do not touch any marked with the X; begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men (the elders) who were in front of the temple.
7 Defile the temple, he said to them, and fill the courts with the slain; then go out and strike in the city.8 As they began to strike, I was left alone. I fell prone, crying out, Alas, Lord GOD! Will you destroy all that is left of Israel when you pour out your fury on Jerusalem?"9 He answered me: The sins of the house of Israel are great beyond measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the city with lawlessness. They think that the LORD has forsaken the land, that he does not see them.10 I, however, will not look upon them with pity, nor show any mercy. I will bring down their conduct upon their heads.
11 Then I saw the man dressed in linen with the writing case at his waist make his report: "I have done as you ordered."
10 1 I looked and saw in the firmament above the cherubim what appeared to be sapphire stone; something like a throne could be seen upon it.2 He said to the man dressed in linen: Go within the wheelwork under the cherubim; fill both your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim, then scatter them over the city. As I looked on, he entered. The glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherubim, upon which it had been, to the threshold of the temple.
3 As the man entered, the cloud filled the inner court,4 and the glory of the LORD rose from over the cherubim to the threshold of the temple; the temple was filled with the cloud, and all the court was bright with the glory of the LORD.5 The noise of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far as the outer court; it was like the voice of God the Almighty when he speaks.
6 When he had commanded the man dressed in linen to take fire from within the wheelwork, among the cherubim, the man entered and stood by one of the wheels.7 Thereupon its cherub stretched out his hand toward the fire that was among the cherubim. He took up some of it and put it in the hands of the one dressed in linen, who took it and came out.8 (Something like human hands could be seen under the wings of the cherubim.)
9 I also saw four wheels beside them, one wheel beside each cherub; the wheels appeared to have the luster of chrysolite stone.10 All four of them seemed to be made the same, as though they were a wheel within a wheel.11 When they moved, they went in any one of their four directions without veering as they moved; for in whichever direction they were faced, they went straight toward it without veering as they moved.12 The rims of the four wheels were full of eyes all around.13 I heard the wheels given the name "wheelwork."14 Each had four faces: the first face was that of an ox, the second that of a man, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle.15 Such were the living creatures I had seen by the river Chebar. 16 When the cherubim moved, the wheels went beside them; when the cherubim lifted their wings to rise from the earth, even then the wheels did not leave their sides.17 When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose, the wheels rose with them; for the living creatures' spirit was in them.
18 Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim.19 These lifted their wings, and I saw them rise from the earth, the wheels rising along with them. They stood at the entrance of the eastern gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the God of Israel was up above them. 20 these were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the river Chebar, whom I now recognized to be cherubim.21 Each had four faces and four wings; something like human hands were under their wings.22 Their faces looked just like those I had seen by the river Chebar; each one went straight forward.
11 1 Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the temple. At the entrance of the gate I saw twenty-five men, among whom were Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
2 The LORD said to me: Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city.
3 "Shall we not," they say, "be building houses soon? The city is the kettle, and we are the meat."
4 Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!
5 Then the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he told me to say: Thus says the LORD: This is the way you talk, house of Israel, and what you are plotting I well know.
6 You have slain many in this city and have filled its streets with your slain.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have placed within it, they are the meat, and the city is the kettle; but you I will take out of it.
8 You fear the sword, but the sword I will bring upon you, says the Lord GOD.
9 I will bring you out of the city, and hand you over to foreigners, and inflict punishments upon you.
10 By the sword you shall fall; at the boundaries of Israel I will judge you; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
11 The city shall not be a kettle for you, nor shall you be the meat within it. At the boundaries of Israel I will judge you,
12 and you shall know that I am the LORD, by whose statutes you have not lived, and whose ordinances you have not kept; rather, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.
13 While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, died. I fell prone and cried out in a loud voice: "Alas, Lord GOD! will you utterly wipe out what remains of Israel?"
14 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
15 Son of man, it is about your kinsmen, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel that the inhabitants of Jerusalem say, "They are far away from the LORD; to us the land of Israel has been given as our possession."
16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I have removed them far among the nations and scattered them over foreign countries-- and was for a while their only sanctuary in the countries to which they had gone--
17 I will gather you from the nations and assemble you from the countries over which you have been scattered, and I will restore to you the land of Israel.
18 They shall return to it and remove from it all its detestable abominations.
19 I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart,
20 so that they will live according to my statutes, and observe and carry out my ordinances; thus they shall be my people and I will be their God.
21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their detestable abominations, I will bring down their conduct upon their heads, says the Lord GOD.
22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels went along with them, while up above them was the glory of the God of Israel.
23 And the glory of the LORD rose from the city and took a stand on the mountain which is to the east of the city.
24 Spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Chaldea (in a vision, by God's spirit). Then the vision I had seen left me,
25 and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.
12 1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
2 Son of man, you live in the midst of a rebellious house; they have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.
3 Now, son of man, during the day while they are looking on, prepare your baggage as though for exile, and again while they are looking on, migrate from where you live to another place; perhaps they will see that they are a rebellious house.
4 You shall bring out your baggage like an exile in the daytime while they are looking on; in the evening, again while they are looking on, you shall go out like one of those driven into exile;
5 while they look on, dig a hole in the wall and pass through it;
6 while they look on, shoulder the burden and set out in the darkness; cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.
7 I did as I was told. During the day I brought out my baggage as though it were that of an exile, and at evening I dug a hole through the wall with my hand and, while they looked on, set out in the darkness, shouldering my burden.
8 Then, in the morning, the word of the LORD came to me:
9 Son of man, did not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, ask you what you were doing?
10 Tell them: Thus says the Lord GOD: This oracle concerns Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel within it.
11 I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; as captives they shall go into exile.
12 The prince who is among them shall shoulder his burden and set out in darkness, going through a hole that he has dug in the wall, and covering his face lest he be seen by anyone.
13 But I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans-- but he shall not see it-- and there he shall die.
14 All his retinue, his aides, and his troops I will scatter in every direction, and pursue them with the sword.
15 Then shall they know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them over foreign lands.
16 Yet I will leave a few of them to escape the sword, famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will come; thus they shall know that I am the LORD.
17 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
18 Son of man, eat your bread trembling, and drink your water shaking with anxiety.
19 Then say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem (to the land of Israel): They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in horror, that their land may be emptied of the violence of all its inhabitants that now fills it.
20 Inhabited cities shall be in ruins, and the land shall be a waste; thus you shall know that I am the LORD.
21 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: "The days drag on, and no vision ever comes to anything"?
23 Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb; they shall never quote it again in Israel. Rather, say to them: The days are at hand, and also the fulfillment of every vision.
24 There shall no longer be any false visions or deceitful divinations within the house of Israel, because it is I, the LORD, who will speak.
25 Whatever I speak is final, and it shall be done without further delay. In your days, rebellious house, whatever I speak I will bring about, says the Lord GOD.
26 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:
27 Son of man, listen to the house of Israel saying, "The vision he sees is a long way off; he prophesies of the distant future!"
28 Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord GOD: None of my words shall be delayed any longer; whatever I speak is final, and it shall be done, says the Lord GOD.
Ezéchiel (NAB) 1