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¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:² Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.³ Thou, therefore, O son of man, prepare thee all necessaries for removing, and remove by day into their sight: and thou shalt remove out of thy place to another place in their sight, if so be they will regard it: for they are a provoking house.⁴ And thou shalt bring forth thy furniture as the furniture of one that is removing by day in their sight: and thou shalt go forth in the evening in their presence, as one goeth forth that removeth his dwelling.⁵ Dig thee a way through the wall before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth through it.⁶ In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men’s shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.⁷ I did therefore as he had commanded me: I brought forth my goods by day, as the goods of one that removeth: and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand, and I went forth in the dark, and was carried on men’s shoulders in their sight.⁸ And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:⁹ Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee: What art thou doing?¹⁰ Say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: This burden concerneth my prince that is in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel, that are among them.¹¹ Say: I am a sign of things to come to you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall be removed from their dwellings, and go into captivity.¹² And the prince that is in the midst of them, shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go forth in the dark: they shall dig through the wall to bring him out: his face shall be covered, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.¹³ And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.¹⁴ And all that are about him, his guards, and his troops I will scatter into every wind: and I will draw out the sword after them.¹⁵ And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have dispersed them among the nations, and scattered them in the countries.¹⁶ And I will leave a few men of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the pestilence: that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall go: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁷ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:¹⁸ Son of man, eat thy bread in trouble and drink thy water in hurry and sorrow.¹⁹ And say to the people of the land: Thus saith the Lord God to them that dwell in Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in care, and drink their water in desolation: that the land may become desolate from the multitude that is therein, for the iniquity of all that dwell therein.²⁰ And the cities that are now inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

²¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:²² Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel? saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail.²³ Say to them therefore: Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, neither shall it be any more a common saying in Israel: and tell them that the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.²⁴ For there shall be no more any vain visions, nor doubtful divination in the midst of the children of Israel.²⁵ For I the Lord will speak: and what word soever I shall speak, it shall come to pass, and shall not be prolonged any more: but in your days, ye provoking house, I will speak the word, and will do it, saith the Lord God.²⁶ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:²⁷ Son of man, behold the house of Israel, they that say: The visions that this man seeth, is for many days to come: and this man prophesieth of times afar off.²⁸ Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: not one word of mine shall be prolonged any more: the word that I shall speak shall be accomplished, saith the Lord God.