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1 The word of the Lord also 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; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.

3 Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for 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 consider, though they be a rebellious house.

4 Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt 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 shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel.

7 And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight.

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

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

10 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.

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

12 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.

13 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.

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

15 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in 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 heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the Lord.

17 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

19 And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord God of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein.

20 And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

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

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

23 Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; 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 effect of every vision.

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

25 For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.

26 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying.

27 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 the times that are far off.

28 Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God.

<html><b>implements for exile</b> A vessel from which to drink and a small earthen bowl in which to knead a cake, as a sign for the house of Israel in Jerusalem to do likewise, so that they would not have to knead dough in a hole on the ground with the gravel going into it. But they did not heed him, and they had to do just that. This is what is written in the Book of Lamentations (3:16): “Indeed, He made my teeth grind on gravel.” In Midrash Lamentations. <b>and go into exile day by day</b> Heb. יוֹמָם, from day to day, two or three days, behave like a man preparing his steps for exile, so that the people of the exile will see and ask what you are doing, and you shall tell them that it symbolizes Zedekiah and his people [in Jerusalem], and these people will send their messengers and inform their brothers and relatives who are there, according to everything they hear from your mouth. Likewise, every [occurrence of] יוֹמָם in Scripture is an expression denoting “day by day,” something that goes on [continually] for many days. This I heard in the name of Rabbi Menachem, and his words are true. <b>perhaps they will see</b> Perhaps they will understand, apercevront in French, they will realize. <b>for a rebellious house are they</b> Therefore, it is still a “perhaps.”</html>

<html><b>like the departures of</b> Heb. כְּמוֹצָאֵי, come issues, essues in Old French, [comme les issues in modern French] like the departures.</html>

<html><b>dig for yourself in the wall</b> Symbolic of Zedekiah, who [later] went out through a tunnel [leading into] a cave, for he was afraid to go out in the open because of the Chaldeans.</html>

<html><b>in the dark you shall bring [them] out</b> When it becomes dark, you shall bring out your implements.</html>

<html><b>I brought out my implements as implements for exile, from day to day</b> Every day, I would show them that I was preparing for myself implements for exile.</html>

<html><b>[Concerning] the prince is this burden</b> Concerning King Zedekiah, I am showing this מַשָּׂא, burden, an expression denoting prophecy.</html>

<html><b>He will cover his face</b> because of shame, that he is fleeing from the city at night.</html>

<html><b>And I shall spread my net over him</b> There was a cave [extending] from his house to the plains of Jericho, and he went out through the cave. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He brought before the army of the Chaldeans a deer which was walking before them on the roof of the cave, and they [began] chasing it. And when Zedekiah emerged from the cave in the plains of Jericho, they saw him emerging and caught him. <b>but he will not see it</b> because in Riblah in the land of Hamath, he [Nebuchadnezzar] called him to account and blinded his eyes. Afterwards, they brought him to Babylon, as is stated in the Book of (II) Kings (25:7 and in Jer. 39:7).</html>

<html><b>and all his officers</b> Heb. אֲגַפָּיו, his officers, and Menachem (p. 15) interpreted it as an expression of wings (גף). <b>I will scatter to every direction</b> Heb. אֱזָרֶה, epandre in Old French, to disperse, and they are Johanan the son of Kareah and the officers of the armies, who were exiled to Egypt, where the sword of Nebuchadnezzar overtook them when he destroyed Egypt.</html>

<html><b>so that they will tell of all their abominations</b> and they will say, “Because of our sins, we have suffered, since such-and-such things we did,” and I shall make known that I had not annihilated you for nothing.</html>

<html><b>of its fullness</b> Of its wealth. <b>because of the violence of all who dwell therein</b> Because of the iniquity of the violence of its dwellers.</html>

<html><b>the inhabited</b> Heb. הַנוֹשָבוֹת, les assiyes, inhabited.</html>

<html><b>what is this proverb</b> Why do you constantly use this proverb with your mouth, to make a proverb of this matter? <b>The days will draw on</b> and the retribution will not come, and meanwhile, the evil prophecy that the prophets are prophesying about us will be lost, and it will be forgotten and disappear.</html>

<html><b>use it as a proverb</b> Heb. יִמְשְּׁלוּ, from the word מָשָּׁל, a proverb.</html>

<html><b>For there will never again be any false prophecy</b> The false prophets will no longer be able to promise you peace with falsehood, for speedily I will bring near the [realization of the] words of the true prophets. <b>glib divination</b> Heb. מִקְסַם חָלָק, devinaylle in Old French, soothsaying, divination. Divination of smoothness.</html>

<html><b>will be drawn out</b> Heb. תִּמָשֵּׁך, sera allongee in French, will be deferred, delayed.</html>

<html><b>for many days</b> The prophecy will not be fulfilled except after a long time.</html>