*THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel 12 ©
The prophet is commanded by God to represent in his own person the flight and captive carrying away of king Zedekiah and the people, excepting a few, v. 1, etc. Also to eat his bread and drink his water with carefulness and anguish, for a sign unto the Jews, 17. God rejects the taunting proverb of the Jews, and foretells on the contrary a sudden and certain accomplishment of his prophecies, 21.
THE word of the LORD also came unto me, saying,
Son of man, thou 1dwellest in the midst of 2a rebelliousa house, which have eyes to see, and 3see not;b they have earsc to hear, and 4hear not: for they are a rebellious house.
5Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee 6stuff for removing, and remove by day 7in their sight; and thou shalt remove 8from thy place to 9another place in their sight: 10it may be they will 11consider, 12though they be a rebellious house.
Then shalt thou bring forth thy 13stuff by day in their sight, 14as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth 15at even in their sight, 16as they that go forth into captivity.
17Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and 18carry out thereby.
19In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover 20thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a 21sign unto the house of Israel.
And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff 22for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall 23with mine hand; I brought 24it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
¶And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, 25What doest thou?
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 26This burden concerneth the 27prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are 28among them.
Say, I am your 29sign: like as I have 30done, so shall it be done 31unto them: they shall 32remove and go into 33captivity.
And the 34prince that is among 35them shall 36bear upon his shoulder 37in the twilight, and shall go forth:d they shall dig through the 38wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his 39face, that he see not the ground with his eyes.
My nete also will I 40spread 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 41not see it, though he shall die there.
And I will scatterf toward 42every wind 43all that are about him to help him, and all his 44bands; and I will draw out 45the sword after them.
And 46they shall know 47that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries.
But I will leave a 48few men of 49them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may 50declare all 51their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and 52they shall know that I am the LORD.
¶Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Son of man, 53eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness;
And say unto the people 54of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with 55carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment,g56that 57her land may be desolate 58from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.
And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
¶And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Son of man, what is that 59proverb that 60ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every 61vision faileth?
Tell 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, 62The days are at hand, and 63the effect of 64every vision.
For there shall be no more any 65vain vision nor 66flattering divination within the house of Israel.
For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it 67shall be no more 68prolonged: for in 69your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.
¶Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is 70for many days to come, and 71he prophesieth of the times that are far off.
Therefore 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.