The Bible, Douay-Rheims Part 541

11:8. You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord G.o.d.

11:9. And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.

11:10. You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

In the borders of Israel... They pretended that they should die in peace in Jerusalem; G.o.d tells them it should not be so; but that they should be judged and condemned, and fall by the sword in the borders of Israel: viz., in Reblatha in the land of Emath, where all their chief men were put to death by Nabuchodonosor. 4 Kings 25., and Jer. 52.10, 27.

11:11. This shall not be as a caldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.

11:12. And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you.

11:13. And it came to pa.s.s, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Banaias died: and I fell down upon my face, and I cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord G.o.d: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?

11:14. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

11:15. Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.

Thy brethren, etc... He speaks of them that had been carried away captives before; who were despised by them that remained in Jerusalem: but as the prophet here declares to them from G.o.d, should be in a more happy condition than they, and after some time return from their captivity.

11:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries: I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.

11:17. Therefore speak to them: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: I will gather you from among the peoples, and a.s.semble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

11:18. And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.

11:19. And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:

11:20. That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their G.o.d.

11:21. But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord G.o.d.

11:22. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the G.o.d of Israel was over them.

11:23. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.

11:24. And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of G.o.d: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.

11:25. And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.

Ezechiel Chapter 12

The prophet forsheweth, by signs, the captivity of Sedecias, and the desolation of the people: all which shall quickly come to pa.s.s.

12:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

12:2. Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.

12:3. Thou, therefore, O son of man, prepare thee all necessaries for removing, and remove by day into their sight: and thou shalt remove out of thy place to another place in their sight, if so be they will regard it: for they are a provoking house.

12:4. And thou shalt bring forth thy furniture as the furniture of one that is removing by day in their sight: and thou shalt go forth in the evening in their presence, as one goeth forth that removeth his dwelling.

12:5. Dig thee a way through the wall before their eyes: and thou shalt go forth through it.

12:6. In their sight thou shalt be carried out upon men's shoulders, thou shalt be carried out in the dark: thou shalt cover thy face, and shalt not see the ground: for I have set thee for a sign of things to come to the house of Israel.

12:7. I did therefore as he had commanded me: I brought forth my goods by day, as the goods of one that removeth: and in the evening I digged through the wall with my hand, and I went forth in the dark, and was carried on men's shoulders in their sight.

12:8. And the word of the Lord came to me in the morning, saying:

12:9. Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the provoking house, said to thee: What art thou doing?

12:10. Say to them: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: This burden concerneth my prince that is in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel, that are among them.

12:11. Say: I am a sign of things to come to you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them: they shall be removed from their dwellings, and go into captivity.

12:12. And the prince that is in the midst of them, shall be carried on shoulders, he shall go forth in the dark: they shall dig through the wall to bring him out: his face shall be covered, that he may not see the ground with his eyes.

12:13. And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my net: and I will bring him into Babylon, into the land of the Chaldeans, and he shall not see it, and there he shall die.

He shall not see it... Because his eyes shall be put out by Nabuchodonosor.

12:14. And all that are about him, his guards, and his troops I will scatter into every wind: and I will draw out the sword after them.

12:15. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have dispersed them among the nations, and scattered them in the countries.

12:16. And I will leave a few men of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the pestilence: that they may declare all their wicked deeds among the nations whither they shall go: and they shall know that I am the Lord.

12:17. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

12:18. Son of man, eat thy bread in trouble and drink thy water in hurry and sorrow.

12:19. And say to the people of the land: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d to them that dwell in Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in care, and drink their water in desolation: that the land may become desolate from the mult.i.tude that is therein, for the iniquity of all that dwell therein.

12:20. And the cities that are now inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

12:21. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

12:22. Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel? saying: The days shall be prolonged, and every vision shall fail.

12:23. Say to them therefore: Thus saith the Lord G.o.d: I will make this proverb to cease, neither shall it be any more a common saying in Israel: and tell them that the days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.

12:24. For there shall be no more any vain visions, nor doubtful divination in the midst of the children of Israel.

12:25. For I the Lord will speak: and what word soever I shall speak, it shall come to pa.s.s, and shall not be prolonged any more: but in your days, ye provoking house, I will speak the word, and will do it, saith the Lord G.o.d.

12:26. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

12:27. Son of man, behold the house of Israel, they that say: The visions that this man seeth, is for many days to come: and this man prophesieth of times afar off.