Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 344
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IMMERSE
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PROPHETS
12:5-23
they are watching, leave your house as captives do when they begin a long
march to distant lands. Dig a hole through the wall while they are watching
and go out through it. As they watch, lift your pack to your shoulders and
walk away into the night. Cover your face so you cannot see the land you
are leaving. For I have made you a sign for the people of Israel.”
So I did as I was told. In broad daylight I brought my pack outside, filled
with the things I might carry into exile. Then in the evening while the
people looked on, I dug through the wall with my hands and went out into
the night with my pack on my shoulder.
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. I will scatter
his servants and warriors to the four winds and send the sword after them.
And when I scatter them among the nations, they will know that I am the
Lord. But I will spare a few of them from death by war, famine, or disease,
so they can confess all their detestable sins to their captors. Then they will
know that I am the Lord.”
Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, tremble as
you eat your food. Shake with fear as you drink your water. Tell the people,
‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says concerning those living in Israel and
Jerusalem: They will eat their food with trembling and sip their water in
despair, for their land will be stripped bare because of their violence. The
cities will be destroyed and the farmland made desolate. Then you will
know that I am the Lord.’”
Again a message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, you’ve heard
that proverb they quote in Israel: ‘Time passes, and prophecies come to
nothing.’ Tell the people, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will put
an end to this proverb, and you will soon stop quoting it.’ Now give them
this new proverb to replace the old one: ‘The time has come for every
prophecy to be fulfilled!’
