1 The worde of the Lord also came vnto me, saying, 2 Sonne of man, thou dwellest in the middes of a rebellious house, which haue eyes to see, and see not: they haue eares to heare, and heare not: for they are a rebellious house. 3 Therefore thou sonne of man, prepare thy stuffe to goe into captiuitie, and goe foorth by day in their sight: and thou shalt passe from thy place to another place in their sight, if it be possible that they may consider it: for they are a rebellious house. 4 Then shalt thou bring foorth thy stuffe by day in their sight as the stuffe of him that goeth into captiuitie: and thou shalt go forth at euen in their sight, as they that go foorth into captiuitie. 5 Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and cary out thereby. 6 In their sight shalt thou beare it vpon thy shoulders, and carie it foorth in the darke: thou shalt couer thy face that thou see not the earth: for I haue set thee as a signe vnto the house of Israel. 7 And as I was commanded, so I brought forth my stuffe by day, as ye stuffe of one that goeth into captiuitie: and by night I digged through the wall with mine hand, and brought it forth in ye darke, and I bare it vpon my shoulder in their sight. 8 And in the morning came the word of the Lord vnto me, saying, 9 Sonne of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, sayde vnto thee, What doest thou? 10 But say thou vnto them, Thus saith the Lord God, This burden concerneth the chiefe in Ierusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. 11 Say, I am your signe: like as I haue done, so shall it be done vnto them: they shall goe into bondage and captiuitie. 12 And the chiefest that is among them, shall beare vpon his shoulder in the darke, and shall goe forth: they shall digge through the wall, to cary out thereby: he shall couer his face, that he see not the ground with his eies. 13 My net also will I spread vpon him, and he shall be taken in my net, and I will bring him to Babel to the lande of the Caldeans, yet shall he not see it, though he shall dye there. 14 And I will scatter toward euerie winde all that are about him to helpe him, and all his garisons, and I will drawe out the sworde after them. 15 And they shall knowe that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countreis. 16 But I will leaue a litle nomber of them from the sworde, from the famine, and from the pestilence, that they may declare all these abominations among the heathen, where they come, and they shall knowe, that I am the Lord. 17 Moreouer, the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 18 Sonne of man, eate thy bread with trembling and drinke thy water with trouble, and with carefulnesse, 19 And say vnto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Ierusalem, and of the lande of Israel, They shall eate their bread with carefulnes, and drinke their water with desolation: for the lande shall bee desolate from her abundance because of the crueltie of them that dwell therein. 20 And the cities that are inhabited, shall be left voyde, and the land shall be desolate, and yee shall knowe that I am the Lord. 21 And the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 22 Sonne of man, what is that prouerbe that you haue in the land of Israel, saying, The dayes are prolonged and all visions faile? 23 Tell them therefore, Thus sayeth the Lord God, I wil make this prouerbe to cease, and they shall no more vse it as a prouerbe in Israel: but say vnto them, The daies are at hand and the effect of euery vision. 24 For no vision shall be any more in vaine, neither shall there bee any flattering diuination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord: I wil speake, and that thing that I shall speake, shall come to passe: it shall be no more prolonged: for in your dayes, O rebellious house, will I saye the thing, and will performe it, sayeth the Lord God. 26 Againe the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying, 27 Sonne of man, beholde, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that hee seeth, is for many dayes to come, and he prophecieth of the times that are farre off. 28 Therefore say vnto them, Thus sayth the Lord God, All my wordes shall no longer be delayed, but that thing which I haue spoken, shall be done, saith the Lord God.
The Prophet as a Refugee
1 The Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they see nothing; they have ears, but they hear nothing, because they are rebellious.
3 “Now, mortal man, pack a bundle just as a refugee would and start out before nightfall. Let everyone see you leaving and going to another place. Maybe those rebels will notice you. 4 While it is still daylight, pack your bundle for exile, so that they can see you, and then let them watch you leave in the evening as if you were going into exile. 5 While they are watching, break a hole through the wall of your house and take your pack out through it. 6 Let them watch you putting your pack on your shoulder and going out into the dark with your eyes covered, so that you can't see where you are going. What you do will be a warning to the Israelites.”
7 I did what the Lord told me to do. That day I packed a bundle as a refugee would, and that evening as it was getting dark I dug a hole in the wall with my hands and went out. While everyone watched, I put the pack on my shoulder and left.
8 The next morning the Lord spoke to me. 9 “Mortal man,” he said, “now that those Israelite rebels are asking you what you're doing, 10 tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. This message is for the prince ruling in Jerusalem and for all the people who live there. 11 Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them—they will be refugees and captives. 12 The prince who is ruling them will shoulder his pack in the dark and escape through a hole that they dig for him in the wall. He will cover his eyes and not see where he is going. 13 But I will spread out my net and trap him in it. Then I will take him to the city of Babylon, where he will die without having seen it. 14 I will scatter in every direction all the members of his court and his advisers and bodyguards, and people will search for them to kill them.
15 “When I scatter them among the other nations and in foreign countries, they will know that I am the Lord. 16 I will let a few of them survive the war, the famine, and the diseases, so that there among the nations they will realize how disgusting their actions have been and will acknowledge that I am the Lord.”
The Sign of the Trembling Prophet
17 The Lord spoke to me. 18 “Mortal man,” he said, “tremble when you eat, and shake with fear when you drink. 19 Tell the whole nation that this is the message of the Sovereign Lord to the people of Jerusalem who are still living in their land: They will tremble when they eat and shake with fear when they drink. Their land will be stripped bare, because everyone who lives there is lawless. 20 Cities that are now full of people will be destroyed, and the country will be made a wilderness. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
A Popular Proverb and an Unpopular Message
21 The Lord spoke to me. 22 “Mortal man,” he said, “why do the people of Israel repeat this proverb: ‘Time goes by, and predictions come to nothing’? 23 Now tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, have to say about that. I will put an end to that proverb. It won't be repeated in Israel any more. Tell them instead: The time has come, and the predictions are coming true!
24 “Among the people of Israel there will be no more false visions or misleading prophecies. 25 I, the Lord, will speak to them, and what I say will be done. There will be no more delay. In your own lifetime, you rebels, I will do what I have warned you I would do. I have spoken,” says the Sovereign Lord.
26 The Lord said to me, 27 “Mortal man, the Israelites think that your visions and prophecies are about the distant future. 28 So tell them that I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying: There will be no more delay. What I have said will be done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”