11. Say, I am a sign for you: just as I have done, so it shall be done to them; into exile, as captives they shall go.
12. The prince among them shall shoulder his load in darkness and go out through the hole they dug in the wall to bring him out. His face shall be covered so that he cannot even see the ground.
13. I will spread my net over him and he shall be caught in my snare. I will bring him into Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans, though he shall not see it, and there he shall die.
14. All his retinue, his aides and all his troops, I will scatter to the winds and pursue them with the sword.
15. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.
16. But I will let a few of them escape the sword, starvation, and plague, so that they may recount all their abominations among the nations to which they go. Thus they may know that I am the Lord.
17. The word of the Lord came to me:
18. Son of man, eat your bread trembling and drink your water shaking with fear.
19. And say to the people of the land: Thus says the Lord God about the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: they shall eat their bread in fear and drink their water in horror, because the land will be emptied of what fills it—the lawlessness of all its inhabitants.
20. Inhabited cities shall be in ruins, the land a desolate place. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
21. The word of the Lord came to me:
22. Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: “The days drag on, and every vision fails”?
23. Say to them therefore: Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to that proverb; they shall never use it again in Israel. Say to them instead: “The days are at hand and every vision fulfilled.”
24. No longer shall there be any false visions or deceitful divinations within the house of Israel,
25. for whatever word I speak shall happen without delay. In your days, rebellious house, whatever I speak I will bring about—oracle of the Lord God.