Say, ‘I am a sign to you. Just as I have done, so it will be done to them; they will go into exile, into captivity.’
Parallel translations
- WEB “Say, ‘I am your sign. As I have done, so will it be done to them. They will go into exile, into captivity.
- KJV Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity.
- BSB You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here, so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives.
- NKJV Say, ‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into captivity.’
- NLT Explain that your actions are a sign to show what will soon happen to them, for they will be driven into exile as captives.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ezekiel tells the people, 'I am your sign'—what he has done will be done to them in exile and captivity.
Overview
The prophet's actions are a mirror of the nation's near future: deportation is certain. Identifying himself as 'your sign' presses the application home personally. God's enacted word guarantees that judgment long announced will surely come to pass.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Jer 15:2It shall happen, when they tell you, ‘Where shall we go out?’ Then you shall tell them, ‘Yahweh says: “Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity.”’
- Jer 52:15Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the poorest of the people, and the residue of the people who were left in the city, and those who fell away, who fell to the king of Babylon, and the residue of the multitude.
- Jer 52:28–30This is the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand twenty-three Jews;
- Ezek 12:6In their sight you shall bear it on your shoulder, and carry it out in the dark. You shall cover your face, so that you don’t see the land, for I have set you for a sign to the house of Israel.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 12:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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