The word of Jehovah also came unto me, saying,
Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of the rebellious house, that have eyes to see, and see not, that have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house.
Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for {Or, exile}removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will {Or, perceive that they are}consider, though they are a rebellious house.
And thou shalt bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for {Or, exile}removing; and thou shalt go forth thyself at even in their sight, as when men go forth into exile.
Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby.
In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulder, and carry it forth in the dark; thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the land: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.
And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for removing, and in the even I digged through the wall with my hand; I brought it forth in the dark, and bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.
And in the morning came the word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This {Or, oracle}burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel {Or, that are among them}among whom they are.
Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.
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, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.
My net also will I spread 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 not see it, though he shall die there.
And I will scatter toward every wind all that are round about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them.
And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries.
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 come; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with fearfulness;
and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, and despoiled of {Hebrew: the fullness thereof.}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 a desolation; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Son of man, what is this proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?
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 {Hebrew: word.}fulfilment of every vision.
For there shall be no more any false vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.
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.
Again the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of times that are far off.
Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: There shall none of my words be deferred any more, but the word which I shall speak shall be performed, saith the Lord Jehovah.
Querverweise zu Hesekiel 12,3 Hes 12,3
Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: This {Or, oracle}burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel {Or, that are among them}among whom they are.
Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.
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, because he shall not see the land with his eyes.
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:
and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams against it round about.
And take thou unto thee an iron {Or, flat plate}pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
Moreover lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity.
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
And again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah: forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee.
And thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, with thine arm uncovered; and thou shalt prophesy against it.
And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to the other, till thou hast accomplished the days of thy siege.
Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, even three hundred and ninety days, shalt thou eat thereof.
And thy food which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
And thou shalt drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it in their sight with dung that cometh out of man.
And Jehovah said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their bread unclean, among the nations whither I will drive them.
Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! behold, my soul hath not been polluted; for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn of beasts; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Then he said unto me, See, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread thereon.
Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure, and in dismay:
that they may want bread and water, and be dismayed one with another, and pine away in their iniquity.
{Or, Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me, and keep all my commandments, that &c.}Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Thus saith Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah, and put it upon my loins.
And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
Take the girdle that thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.
So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me.
And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me, Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there.
Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
Then the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
Thus saith Jehovah, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.
For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,That they would consider their latter end!
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel.
At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do every one after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
Oh that my people would hearken unto me,That Israel would walk in my ways!
Thus said Jehovah, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
and go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of {Or, the gate of potherds}the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee;
and say, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.
Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, that they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my {Hebrew: heart.}mind:
therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
And I will {Hebrew: empty out.}make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth.
And I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their life, shall distress them.
Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,
and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, {Or, because there shall be no place else}till there be no place to bury.
Thus will I do unto this place, saith Jehovah, and to the inhabitants thereof, even making this city as Topheth:
and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods.
Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people:
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Thus saith Jehovah to me: Make thee bonds and bars, and put them upon thy neck;
And Jehovah hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, (but ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear),
saying, Return ye now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that Jehovah hath given unto you and to your fathers, from of old and even for evermore;
and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke me not to anger with the work of your hands; and I will do you no hurt.
Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith Jehovah; that ye may provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own hurt.
It may be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
It may be {Hebrew: their supplication will fall.}they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will return every one from his evil way; for great is the anger and the wrath that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people.
And he answering saith unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
and if it bear fruit thenceforth, well; but if not, thou shalt cut it down.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her own brood under her wings, and ye would not!
And the lord of the vineyard said, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; it may be they will reverence him.
in meekness {Or, instructing}correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth,