2. Ezekiel, son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but refuse to see; they have ears, but refuse to listen.
3. So before it gets dark, here is what I want you to do. Pack a few things as though you were going to be taken away as a prisoner. Then go outside where everyone can see you and walk around from place to place. Perhaps as they watch, they will realize what rebels they are.
4. After you have done this, return to your house.Later that evening leave your house as if you were going into exile.
5. Dig through the wall of your house and crawl out, carrying the bag with you. Make sure everyone is watching.
6. Lift the bag to your shoulders, and with your face covered, take it into the darkness, so that you cannot see the land you are leaving. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.
7. I did everything the Lord had said. I packed a few things. Then as the sun was going down, and while everyone was watching, I dug a hole through one of the walls of my house. I pulled out my bag, then lifted it to my shoulders and left in the darkness.
8. The next morning, the Lord
9. reminded me that those rebellious people didn't even ask what I was doing.
10. So he sent me back to tell them:The Lord God has a message for the leader of Jerusalem and everyone living there!
11. I have done these things to show them what will happen when they are taken away as prisoners.
12. The leader of Jerusalem will lift his own bag to his shoulders at sunset and leave through a hole that the others have dug in the wall of his house. He will cover his face, so he can't see the land he is leaving.
13. The Lord will spread out a net and trap him as he leaves Jerusalem. He will then be led away to the city of Babylon, but will never see that place, even though he will die there.
14. His own officials and troops will scatter in every direction, and the Lord will track them down and put them to death.
15. The Lord will force the rest of the people in Jerusalem to live in foreign nations, where they will realize that he has done all these things.
16. Some of them will survive the war, the starvation, and the deadly diseases. That way, they will be able to tell foreigners how disgusting their sins were, and that it was the Lord who punished them in this way.