Ezequiel 12

ARC · Chapter 12/48

1E veiu a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, tu habitas no meio da casa rebelde, que tem olhos para ver e não vê, e tem ouvidos para ouvir e não ouve; porque casa rebelde é.

3Tu, pois, ó filho do homem, faze trastes de quem se muda de paiz, e de dia muda de logar aos olhos d'elles; e do teu logar mudarás a outro logar aos olhos d'elles; bem pode ser que reparem n'isso, ainda que elles são casa rebelde.

4Aos olhos d'elles tirarás para fóra pois, de dia, os teus trastes, como trastes de quem se muda de logar; então tu sairás de tarde aos olhos d'elles, como quem sae mudando de logar.

5Escava para ti, á vista d'elles, a parede, e tira para fóra por ella os trastes.

6Aos olhos d'elles aos hombros os levarás, ás escuras os tirarás, e cobrirás a tua cara, para que não vejas a terra: porque te dei por signal maravilhoso á casa d'Israel.

7E fiz assim, como se me deu ordem: os meus trastes tirei para fóra de dia, como trastes de quem se muda de logar: então á tarde escavei na parede com a mão; ás escuras os tirei para fóra, e aos hombros os levei, aos olhos d'elles.

8E veiu a mim a palavra do Senhor, pela manhã, dizendo:

9Filho do homem, porventura não te disse a casa d'Israel, aquella casa rebelde: Que fazes tu?

10Dize-lhes: Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Esta carga é contra o principe em Jerusalem, e contra toda a casa d'Israel, que está no meio d'ella.

11Dize: Eu sou o vosso maravilhoso signal: assim como eu fiz, assim se lhes fará a elles; por transportação irão em captiveiro;

12E o principe que está no meio d'elles aos hombros levará ás escuras os trastes, e sairá: a parede escavarão para os tirarem por ella: o seu rosto cobrirá, para que elle com o olho não veja a terra.

13Tambem estenderei a minha rede sobre elle, e será apanhado no meu laço: e o levarei a Babylonia, á terra dos chaldeos, e comtudo não a verá, ainda que ali morrerá.

14E a todos os que estiverem ao redor d'elle em seu soccorro, e a todas as suas tropas, espalharei a todos os ventos: e desembainharei a espada atraz d'elles.

15Assim saberão que eu sou o Senhor, quando eu os derramar entre as nações e os espalhar pelas terras.

16Porém d'elles deixarei ficar de resto alguns poucos da espada, da fome, e da peste, para que contem todas as suas abominações entre as nações para onde forem; e saberão que eu sou o Senhor.

17Então veiu a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

18Filho do homem, o teu pão comerás com tremor, e a tua agua beberás com estremecimento e com receio.

19E dirás ao povo da terra: Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah ácerca dos habitantes de Jerusalem, na terra d'Israel: O seu pão comerão com receio, e a sua agua beberão com susto, porquanto a sua terra será despojada de sua abundancia, por causa da violencia de todos os que habitam n'ella.

20E as cidades habitadas serão desoladas, e a terra se tornará em assolação; e sabereis que eu sou o Senhor.

21E veiu ainda a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

22Filho do homem, que dictado é este que vós tendes na terra d'Israel, dizendo: Prolongar-se-hão os dias, e perecerá toda a visão?

23Portanto, dize-lhes: Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Farei cessar este dictado, e não se servirão mais d'este dictado em Israel; porém dize-lhes: Já se chegaram os dias e a palavra de toda a visão.

24Porque não haverá mais alguma visão vã, nem adivinhação lisongeira, no meio da casa d'Israel.

25Porque eu, o Senhor, fallarei, e a palavra que eu fallar se fará; não terá mais tardança; porque em vossos dias, ó casa rebelde, fallarei uma palavra e a cumprirei, diz o Senhor Jehovah.

26Veiu mais a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

27Filho do homem, eis que os da casa d'Israel dizem: A visão que este vê é para muitos dias, e elle prophetiza de tempos que estão longe.

28Portanto dize-lhes: Assim diz o Senhor Jehovah: Não será differida mais alguma das minhas palavras: e a palavra que fallei se fará, diz o Senhor Jehovah.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

In full view of everyone, Ezekiel acts out the departure of an exile: he leaves his house carrying bundles and digs a hole through the wall, foreshadowing King Zedekiah's failed escape from Jerusalem.

Explanation

This prophetic act predicted with striking precision what would happen to King Zedekiah: he would try to flee Jerusalem through a hole in the wall, be captured, and be blinded before being taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:4-7), literally fulfilling the word that he 'would not see the land' even though he was taken there. The chapter also refutes a popular saying of the time claiming that judgment prophecies were always about 'a distant future,' declaring instead that God's word would soon be fulfilled. The practical application is that postponing decisions to change, hoping the warnings are merely theoretical, is a real risk.

Fun facts

  • The prophecy that Zedekiah would go to Babylon without seeing it (v.13) is one of the most literally fulfilled predictions in the Bible, confirmed by the historical account in 2 Kings 25.
  • The saying about 'the vision that fails' shows that popular skepticism toward prophecy was already a problem Ezekiel faced in his own time.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 12:1Opening formula for a new symbolic enactment, that of forced relocation, which fills the first part of the chapter.
  2. Ezequiel 12:2God describes the people as having working senses that they choose not to use: this is not a lack of capacity to understand, it is a deliberate refusal.
  3. Ezequiel 12:3Packing his own bags and digging a hole through the wall to leave, in full view of everyone, is another enactment: Ezekiel acts out with his own body what will happen to the prince and people of Jerusalem — fleeing in a hurry, at night, carrying only what is essential.
  4. Ezequiel 12:4The enactment spells out the timing: the bags go out by day, in full view of everyone, and the actual departure happens at night — imitating exactly what a real, hurried escape would look like.
  5. Ezequiel 12:5Digging a hole through his own house wall, instead of going out the door, shows the desperation of someone fleeing with no time and no normal route available.
  6. Ezequiel 12:6Covering his face as he leaves is the most striking detail of the enactment — it foreshadows exactly what will happen to the prince of Jerusalem, described in the following verses.
  7. Ezequiel 12:7Ezekiel confirms that he carried out every detail of the enactment exactly as ordered, without skipping any step of the symbolic act.
  8. Ezequiel 12:8After acting out the gesture, Ezekiel receives the explanation of what it meant — the book’s usual order is to act first and clarify afterward.
  9. Ezequiel 12:9God anticipates that the people will ask, out of curiosity, about the meaning of the strange enactment — their puzzled reaction is expected and part of the plan.
  10. Ezequiel 12:10The answer comes: the enactment is not about the exiled people but about what is going to happen to the prince still in Jerusalem.
  11. Ezequiel 12:11Ezekiel literally becomes a visual preview: what he acted out in miniature will repeat for real with the people of Jerusalem, going off into captivity.
  12. Ezequiel 12:12The detail of the prince covering his face so as not to see the land, being taken to Babylon, and never seeing it again matches exactly what history records about King Zedekiah: captured, blinded, and taken away without ever seeing Jerusalem again.
  13. Ezequiel 12:13The prophecy gets into specific details about the prince: he will be caught like an animal in a trap and taken to Babylon without ever seeing the place where he will die.
  14. Ezequiel 12:14Not just the prince but his whole support circle — bodyguards, troops — will be scattered; no one around him escapes along with him.
  15. Ezequiel 12:15The recognition of who God is comes, once again, through the very act of scattering — the fulfillment of the punishment is the proof confirming who spoke it first.
  16. Ezequiel 12:16A few survive on purpose, not by chance — their role is precisely to tell foreigners the reason all of this happened.
  17. Ezequiel 12:17A new transition formula, introducing one more enactment, this time about eating in fear.
  18. Ezequiel 12:18Ezekiel receives another physical instruction: eat and drink while trembling with fear, acting out the climate of dread that will grip the besieged city.
  19. Ezequiel 12:19The explanation links Ezekiel’s gesture directly to the real experience the people of Jerusalem will go through: eating in fear because of the very violence they practiced.
  20. Ezequiel 12:20The final outcome announced is very concrete: cities full of people today will become empty, a visible confirmation of the judgment.
  21. Ezequiel 12:21A new transition formula, introducing the next theme: a popular proverb God is about to dismantle.
  22. Ezequiel 12:22The popular proverb “the days are prolonged, and every vision faileth” was a way of dismissing the prophets’ warnings as old news that never comes true — God answers by saying this saying is about to stop making sense, because this time fulfillment is near.
  23. Ezequiel 12:23God decides to put an end once and for all to the saying that dismissed prophetic warnings: from now on, the gap between prophecy and fulfillment will disappear, because things are going to happen fast.
  24. Ezequiel 12:24Along with the end of the saying comes the end of room for false prophecies and divinations that only told the people what they wanted to hear.
  25. Ezequiel 12:25God stresses that His words will no longer take long to be fulfilled — the time for thinking the warnings are something distant and without urgency is over.
  26. Ezequiel 12:26One more transition formula, presenting a second objection from the people, this time about the timing of the prophecy.
  27. Ezequiel 12:27The people try to reassure themselves by saying Ezekiel’s prophecy is about a distant future, something to worry about later, not now.
  28. Ezequiel 12:28God rejects this excuse as well: He repeats that there will no longer be any delay between the word spoken and its fulfillment.

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