Ezekiel 12-14
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Judah’s Captivity Portrayed
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear,(A) 3 for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.(B) 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into exile.(C) 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.(D)
7 I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.
8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?”(E) 10 Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem[a] and all the house of Israel in it.”[b](F) 11 Say, “I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.”(G) 12 And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he[c] shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes.(H) 13 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.(I) 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.(J) 15 And they shall know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.(K) 16 But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I am the Lord.(L)
Judgment Not Postponed
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 18 Mortal, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; 19 and say to the people of the land: “Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it.(M) 20 The inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”(N)
21 The word of the Lord came to me: 22 Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel that says, “The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing”?(O) 23 Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them: “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.(P) 24 For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.(Q) 25 But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says the Lord God.”(R)
26 The word of the Lord came to me: 27 Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.”(S) 28 Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.”(T)
False Prophets Condemned
13 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!”(U) 3 Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!(V) 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.(W) 6 They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!(X) 7 Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?
8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.(Y) 10 Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets[d] smear whitewash on it.(Z) 11 Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain,[e] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out.(AA) 12 When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. 14 I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.(AB) 15 Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it— 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”(AC)
17 As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them(AD) 18 and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives?(AE) 19 You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.(AF)
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives;[f] I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. 21 I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives,(AG) 23 therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(AH)
God’s Judgments Justified
14 Certain elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.(AI) 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 Mortal, these men have taken their idols into their hearts and placed their iniquity as a stumbling block before them; shall I let myself be consulted by them?(AJ) 4 Therefore speak to them, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Any of those of the house of Israel who take their idols into their hearts and place their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to the prophet, I the Lord will answer those who come with the multitude of their idols, 5 in order that I may take hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, all of whom are estranged from me through their idols.(AK)
6 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.(AL) 7 For any of those of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside in Israel who separate themselves from me, taking their idols into their hearts and placing their iniquity as a stumbling block before them and yet come to a prophet to inquire of me by him, I the Lord will answer them myself.(AM) 8 I will set my face against them; I will make them a sign and a byword and cut them off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord.(AN)
9 If a prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.(AO) 10 And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the inquirer and the punishment of the prophet shall be the same— 11 so that the house of Israel may no longer go astray from me nor defile themselves any more with all their transgressions. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God, says the Lord God.(AP)
12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 Mortal, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly and I stretch out my hand against it and cut off its supply of bread[g] and send famine upon it and cut off from it humans and animals,(AQ) 14 even if Noah, Daniel,[h] and Job, these three, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God.(AR) 15 If I send wild animals through the land to ravage it so that it is made desolate and no one may pass through because of the animals,(AS) 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters; they alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. 17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “Let a sword pass through the land,” and I cut off humans and animals from it,(AT) 18 though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither sons nor daughters, but they alone would be saved. 19 Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out my wrath upon it with blood, to cut off humans and animals from it,(AU) 20 even if Noah, Daniel,[i] and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would save neither son nor daughter; they would save only their own lives by their righteousness.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four deadly acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild animals, and pestilence, to cut off humans and animals from it!(AV) 22 Yet survivors shall be left in it, sons and daughters who will be brought out; they will come out to you. When you see their ways and their deeds, you will be consoled for the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, for all that I have brought upon it.(AW) 23 They shall console you when you see their ways and their deeds, and you shall know that it was not without cause that I did all that I have done in it, says the Lord God.(AX)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.