Word came to me from the Lord:

Son of man, thou dwellest among a brood of rebels, that have eyes to see with, ears to hear with, yet see and hear nothing, so bent are they on rebellion.

Do thou, then, son of man, provide thee with an exile’s pack, and while it is daylight, let them see thee marching to and fro; in their full view, if those rebellious eyes will but mark it, remove from one place to another,

carrying those goods of thine with thee, as if ready for a journey. Then, at nightfall, take thy leave in public, as if thou wert going into exile.

Let them see thee dig a hole through the wall of thy house, to escape by;

let them see thee carried out on men’s shoulders, darkness all around, blindfold, so that thou canst not view the land about thee. A portent of doom thou shalt be to the men of Israel.✻

His bidding was done; while daylight served, I brought my exile’s pack out into the open; then, at nightfall, dug wall through and went out on my dark journey, borne on men’s shoulders, plain to view.

And word came to me from the Lord:

What of the rebel brood? Have the Israelites asked to know what thou meanest?

This tell them from the Lord God, A princely burden!✻ Here went the prince that rules over Jerusalem, and over all such Israelites as dwell in their native country.

Tell them, This is your own doom I foreshadow; the men of Israel shall fare as I do, exile and prison their lot,

and he who rules among them shall be fain to escape in the darkness, borne on men’s shoulders. They shall breach wall to make way for him, and he shall go with his face covered, so that he will look on the land no more.

But my net is spread; I have him in the noose; Babylon for him, the Chaldaean country for him; that land, too, he shall not see, yet die in that land he must.✻

Retinue and bodyguard of his, nay, all his army, I will scatter to the four winds, with my naked sword at their heels.

Then at last they shall learn what manner of God I am, when they find themselves lost among the nations, dispersed all the world over!

A few shall survive, in despite of sword, famine, and pestilence, to tell these new neighbours of theirs what foul deeds they did; so shall the Gentiles✻ learn to know me.

Word came to me from the Lord:

Son of man, tremble still when bread thou eatest, nor ever drink water but with anxious fear;

and this message send from the Lord God to thy countrymen that are left at home: Never citizen of Jerusalem, never inhabitant of Israel, but must eat in fear, put cup to his lips unmanned, till at last unmanned it lies, the whole country-side around them, for their guilt that dwelt in it.

Lonely the crowded streets, wasted the country-side must be, ere you learn to know me.

Word came to me from the Lord:

What means this saying you have in Israel, The days drag on, and never a warning comes true?

Tell them this from the Lord God: Here is a proverb shall be heard in Israel no more; I mean to do away with it. Tell them the time is close at hand now for the fulfilment of all my warnings.

Vain vision and flattering hopes Israel shall know no longer;

the divine foretelling shall not wait for the divine fulfilling; in your own days, brood of rebels, you shall witness both, the Lord God says.

And the Lord’s word came to me:

Fond hope of Israel, that these should be distant things thou foretellest, the prophet of a later age!

Give them word from the Lord God: Warning of mine knows no delay; here and now, the Lord says, it shall be accomplished.