^12:8The word of the Lord came to me in the morning: ^12:9“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, that rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ ^12:10Say to them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The prince will raise this burden in Jerusalem,⁸ and all the house of Israel within it.’⁹^12:11Say, ‘I am an object lesson for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile and captivity.’

^12:12“The prince¹⁰ who is among them will raise his belongings¹¹ onto his shoulder in darkness, and will go out. He¹² will dig a hole in the wall to leave through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ^12:13But I will throw my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans¹³ (but he will not see it),¹⁴ and there he will die.¹⁵

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Footnotes

8 The nearly incoherent Hebrew reads “The prince is this burden (prophetic oracle?) in Jerusalem.” The , which may only be trying to make sense of a very difficult text, says “Concerning the prince is this oracle,” assuming the addition of a preposition. This would be the only case where Ezekiel uses this term for a prophetic oracle. The reads the word for “burden” as a synonym for leader, as both words are built on the same root (נָשִׂיא, nasi’), but the verse is still incoherent because it is only a phrase with no verb. The current translation assumes that the verb יִשָּׂא (yisa’) from the root נָשִׂיא has dropped out due to homoioteleuton. If indeed the verb has dropped out (the syntax of the verbless clause being the problem), then context clearly suggests that it be a form of נָשִׂיא (see vv. 7 and 12). Placing the verb between the subject and object would result in three consecutive words based on the root נָשִׂיא and an environment conducive to an omission in copying: הַנָּשִׂיא יִשָּׁא הַמַּשָּׂא הַזֶּה (hannasi’ yisha’ hammasa’ hazzeh, “the Prince will raise this burden”). The prince in Jerusalem refers to King Zedekiah. For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
9 The reads “within them.” Possibly a scribe copied this form from the following verse “among them,” but only “within it” makes sense in this context.
10 The prince is a reference to Zedekiah.
11 The words “his belongings” are not in the Hebrew text but are implied.
12 The reads “they”; the and read “he.”
13 Or “Babylonians” (, ). The Chaldeans were a group of people in the country south of Babylon from which Nebuchadnezzar came. The Chaldean dynasty his father established became the name by which the Babylonians are regularly referred to in the book of Jeremiah, while Jeremiah’s contemporary, Ezekiel, uses both terms.
14 He will not see it. This prediction was fulfilled in 2 Kgs 25:7 and Jer 52:11, which recount how Zedekiah was blinded before being deported to Babylon.
15 There he will die. This was fulfilled when King Zedekiah died in exile (Jer 52:11).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, ‘What are you doing?’ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’ 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.’ And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. They shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken 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.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, did not the Israelites, that rebellious people, ask you, ‘What are you doing?’

“Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This prophecy concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there.’ Say to them, ‘I am a sign to you.’

“As I have done, so it will be done to them. They will go into exile as captives.

“The prince among them will put his things on his shoulder at dusk and leave, and a hole will be dug in the wall for him to go through. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land. I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house, asked you, ‘What are you doing?’ Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: This pronouncement concerns the prince in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel living there.’ You are to say, ‘I am a sign for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’ The prince who is among them will lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land with his eyes. But I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it, and he will die there.

NLTNew Living Translation

The next morning this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, these rebels, the people of Israel, have asked you what all this means. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: These actions contain a message for King Zedekiah in Jerusalem and for all the people of Israel.’ Explain that your actions are a sign to show what will soon happen to them, for they will be driven into exile as captives.

“Even Zedekiah will leave Jerusalem at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him. He will cover his face, and his eyes will not see the land he is leaving. Then I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, though he will never see it, and he will die there.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And the word of Yahweh came to me in the morning, saying, “Son of man, did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and the entire house of Israel who are among them.” ’ Say, ‘I am your sign, and just as I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; into captivity they will go.’ And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, and he will go out; the wall will be dug through to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he will not see the land with his eye. And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

KJV 1900King James Version

And in the morning came the word of the Lord 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 God; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground 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.

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