¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not, which have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.

³ And thou, son of man, prepare thee a captive's baggage, and go captive by day in their sight; and thou shalt go captive from thy place to another place in their sight. It may be they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴ And bring forth thy baggage by day in their sight, as a captive's baggage, and thou thyself, go forth at even in their sight as they that go forth into captivity.

⁵ Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.

⁶ In their sight shalt thou bear [it] upon [thy] shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; thou shalt cover thy face, and thou shalt not see the ground: for I have appointed thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

⁷ And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my baggage by day, as a captive's baggage, and in the even I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, [and] bore it upon [my] shoulder, in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

⁹ Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?

¹⁰ Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This burden [concerneth] the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them.

¹¹ Say, I am your sign: as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall go into exile, into captivity.

¹² And the prince that is among them shall bear upon [his] shoulder in the dark, and shall go forth; they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby; he shall cover his face, that he see not the land with [his] eyes.

¹³ And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; but he shall not see it, and there shall he die.

¹⁴ And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them.

¹⁵ And they shall know that I [am] Jehovah when I shall scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries.

¹⁶ But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the nations whither they shall come; and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

¹⁷ And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

¹⁸ Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with anxiety;

¹⁹ and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with astonishment, because her land shall be left desolate of all that is in it, for the violence of all them that dwell therein.

²⁰ And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

²¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

²² Son of man, what is that proverb which ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days shall be prolonged, and every vision faileth?

²³ Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the accomplishment of every vision.

²⁴ For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel.

²⁵ For I [am] Jehovah; I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall be performed, it shall be no more deferred. For in your days, O rebellious house, will I speak the word and will perform it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

²⁶ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

²⁷ Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days, and he prophesieth of times that are far off.

²⁸ Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word that I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah.

¹ Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:

² But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

³ For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

⁴ None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

⁵ They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

⁶ Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.

⁷ Their feet run to evil, and they make hast to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.

⁸ The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

⁹ Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

¹⁰ We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.

¹¹ We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.

¹² For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;

¹³ In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

¹⁴ And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

¹⁵ Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

¹⁶ And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

¹⁷ For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

¹⁸ According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.

¹⁹ So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

²⁰ And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

²¹ As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.