Ezekiel 12:3 kjv
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.
Ezekiel 12:3 nkjv
"Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 12:3 niv
"Therefore, son of man, pack your belongings for exile and in the daytime, as they watch, set out and go from where you are to another place. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people.
Ezekiel 12:3 esv
As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.
Ezekiel 12:3 nlt
"So now, son of man, pretend you are being sent into exile. Pack the few items an exile could carry, and leave your home to go somewhere else. Do this right in front of the people so they can see you. For perhaps they will pay attention to this, even though they are such rebels.
Ezekiel 12 3 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Ezekiel 12:3 | "Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile, and make your baggage of exile by day before their eyes; and you shall make them like the exodus from Jerusalem by night, before their eyes." | Imagery of preparation for exile |
| Jeremiah 29:4 | Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon: | God's promise in exile |
| Jeremiah 1:17 | "But you, gird up your loins; arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them." | Divine command for prophetic action |
| Isaiah 20:2 | "at that time the LORD spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, 'Go, and loose the sackcloth from your loins and take off your sandals from your feet,' and he did so, and walked naked and barefoot." | Symbolic action of prophecy |
| Micah 1:8 | "Therefore I will wail and howl. I will go stripped and naked. I will make a wail like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches." | Expression of grief through stripping |
| Hosea 9:1 | "Rejoice not, O Israel! Not with gladness like the peoples, for you have played the whore, departing from your God." | Consequences of unfaithfulness |
| Deuteronomy 28:36 | "The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone." | Prophecy of exile |
| 2 Kings 25:27 | "But in the thirty-seventh year of the Carney of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison." | Release from exile |
| Psalm 48:2 | "Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north side of the city of the Great King." | Zion's importance |
| Isaiah 3:18 | "In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets, the scarves, and the armbands;" | Removal of adornment |
| Jeremiah 22:6 | "For thus says the LORD concerning the house of the king of Judah: 'You are but Gilead to me, the head of Lebanon; yet I will surely make you a wilderness, cities uninhabited.'" | Judgment on the king's house |
| Lamentations 1:6 | "From the daughter of Zion has come all her splendor. Her princes have become like deer that find no pasture, they fled with no strength before the pursuer." | Judah's downfall |
| Ezekiel 4:1-3 | "You also, son of man, take a brick, and lay it before you, and draw on it the city, Jerusalem, and put siegeworks against it, and build siege ramps against it, and plant battering rams against it and place camps against it, and put siege-walls against it all around. Take an iron pan, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city; and set your face toward it, and let it be hard, and press the siege against it. This is a sign for the house of Israel." | Symbolic actions of siege |
| Amos 5:27 | "Therefore I will cause you to go into exile beyond Damascus, says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts." | Prediction of exile |
| Zechariah 11:12 | "Then I said to them, 'If it is your pleasure, give me my wages; and if not, let it alone.' And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver." | Wages for shepherding |
| John 19:23 | "When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven from top to site." | Seamless tunic |
| 1 Corinthians 10:11 | "Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for admonition to us on whom the end of the age has come." | Examples for believers |
| Galatians 4:21-22 | "Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman." | Allegory of Hagar and Sarah |
| Genesis 20:1 | "Abraham moved from there to the territory of the Negeb, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar as a foreigner." | Abraham sojourning |
| Acts 7:14 | "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all." | Jacob's family moves |
Ezekiel 12 verses
Ezekiel 12 3 Meaning
This verse signifies the immediate and tangible nature of God's judgment being brought upon Jerusalem and its people. The act described is a symbolic demonstration of their impending exile and the removal of all that is precious and secure to them. It is not merely a spoken prophecy, but a visual enactment foreshadowing their fate.
Ezekiel 12 3 Context
In Ezekiel chapter 12, God instructs Ezekiel to perform symbolic actions to convey the impending doom and exile of Jerusalem's inhabitants. This specific verse (12:3) comes in the context of God's severe judgment against a rebellious and unrepentant people who have become like the rest of the nations. They are characterized by their hardened hearts and their deafness to God's word, seeing prophecies of judgment as empty threats. The preceding verses (12:1-2) establish this theme of people being spiritually blind and deaf. Ezekiel's performance of these symbolic acts is designed to awaken them, both by demonstration and by personal confrontation. The historical context is during the Babylonian exile, with Jerusalem and the Temple still standing but under siege and facing inevitable destruction and the scattering of its people. This verse is part of a broader prophetic message addressing the pride and delusion of the Jerusalem leadership and populace.
Ezekiel 12 3 Word Analysis
- “Therefore” (wə‘al-kēn): Connects this instruction to the preceding statements about the people’s stubbornness and inability to understand. It signifies consequence.
- “son of man” (ben-’ādām): A repeated appellation for Ezekiel, emphasizing his humanity and God's role as the divine communicator through him.
- “prepare for yourself” (‘ereḵ-lĕḵā): Implies gathering, making ready, arranging. It highlights personal involvement in the preparation for exile.
- “baggage for exile” (ḵelî-gôlâ): "Khelî" can mean vessel, implement, or goods/possessions. "Gôlâ" specifically means exile or captivity. This refers to the minimal, necessary possessions one would take for forced migration or deportation.
- “prepare for yourself baggage of exile” (‘erḵ-lĕḵā kēlî-gôlâ): Repetition for emphasis on the deliberate and personal preparation for displacement.
- “by day” (bāyōm): In the daytime, openly.
- “before their eyes” (lĕ‘ênêhem): This signifies a public demonstration, a performance visible to the people being warned. It makes the message inescapable.
- “you shall make them” (wĕ‘āśāh ‘ōtām): Refers to the actions Ezekiel is to perform with the baggage, mirroring the eventual action of the people themselves in their forced departure.
- “like the exodus from Jerusalem” (ḵə-gōṯēḏ mîrûšā•lêm): "Gōṯēḏ" implies an exit, departure, or removal. The specific phrase evokes a furtive, unseemly, or sudden leaving, like fleeing.
- “by night” (bā·lā·ylāh): Under the cover of darkness, suggesting shame, stealth, and an undesirable departure, in contrast to the open preparation by day.
- “before their eyes” (lĕ‘ênêhem): Reinforces the public, visible nature of this symbolic act, emphasizing that the very people they are trying to flee from will witness their shameful departure, or rather, that their entire city's shame will be exposed.
Ezekiel 12 3 Bonus Section
The concept of prophets performing symbolic acts, or "acted out prophecy," is a significant element in the Old Testament prophetic ministry. This practice served as a visual aid for people who might be unmoved by spoken words alone. Similar instances include Isaiah walking naked and barefoot (Isa 20:2), Hosea marrying an unfaithful woman (Hos 1-3), and Ezekiel himself later lying on his sides for extended periods (Ezek 4). This particular instruction highlights the communal nature of sin and therefore, the communal nature of its consequence, exile. It’s a preemptive demonstration of the helplessness and despair that will characterize their forced migration.
Ezekiel 12 3 Commentary
Ezekiel is commanded to pack his belongings as if he were being taken into exile. He must do this visibly during the day, then at night, he must simulate the actual departure of the inhabitants from Jerusalem. This act is not about literal travel but a stark, enacted prophecy. It graphically portrays the inevitability and the ignominious nature of Jerusalem's fall and the exile of its people. The contrast between preparing in the daylight and departing in the nighttime highlights the exposed shame and forced nature of their eventual exodus from their beloved city. The repetition emphasizes that this is a direct, personal instruction for Ezekiel to perform, making the abstract judgment a tangible reality for all to see, thereby illustrating that no one will escape the impending calamity. This vivid portrayal is meant to shatter the false sense of security and expose the harsh truth of their rebellion's consequences.