4. “During the day, take your bags outside so that the people can see you. Then in the evening, pretend you are going away. Act as if you are a prisoner going to a faraway country.
5. While the people are watching, make a hole in the wall and go out through that hole in the wall.
6. At night, put your bag on your shoulder and leave. Cover your face so that you cannot see where you are going. You must do these things so that the people can see you, because I am using you as an example to the family of Israel.”
7. So I did as I was commanded. During the day, I took my bags and acted as if I were going to a faraway country. That evening, I used my hands and made a hole in the wall. During the night, I put my bag on my shoulder and left. I did this so that all the people could see me.
8. The next morning, the word of the Lord came to me. He said,
9. “Son of man, did the people of Israel—those people who always refuse to obey—ask you what you were doing?
10. Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD said. This sad message is about the leader of Jerusalem and all the people of Israel who live there.
11. Tell them, ‘I am an example for all of you. What I have done will happen to you.’ You will be forced to go to a faraway country as prisoners.
12. And your leader will make a hole in the wall and sneak out at night. He will cover his face so that people will not recognize him. His eyes will not be able to see where he is going.
13. He will try to escape, but I will catch him! He will be caught in my trap. Then I will bring him to Babylonia—the land of the Chaldeans. But he will not be able to see where he is going.
14. I will force the king’s people to live in the foreign countries around Israel, and I will scatter his army to the winds. The enemy soldiers will chase after them.
15. Then they will know that I am the Lord. They will know that I scattered them among the nations. They will know that I forced them to go to other countries.
16. “But I will let a few of the people live. They will not die from the disease, hunger, and war. I will let them live so that they can tell other people about the terrible things they did against me. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
17. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said,
18. “Son of man, you must act as if you are very frightened. You must shake when you eat your food. You must act worried and afraid when you drink your water.
19. You must say this to the common people: ‘This is what the Lord GOD says to the people living in Jerusalem and in the other parts of Israel. You will be very worried while you eat your food. You will be terrified while you drink your water, because everything in your country will be destroyed! This will happen because the people living there are so violent.