Say: God gives Ezekiel more words to speak to his fellow exiles. This time he tells Ezekiel what to say about himself.
I am a sign for you: Care must be taken to ensure that the pronoun I refers to Ezekiel, not God. Good News Translation does this by using indirect speech here, beginning this verse with “Tell them that what you have done is a sign of what will happen to them.” For the word sign, see Ezek 12.6. As there, Good News Translation and many other translations make Ezekiel’s actions, not Ezekiel himself, the sign. Sign may be rendered “warning” or “object lesson” ( NET Bible [ NET Bible]). The pronoun you refers to Ezekiel’s audience in Babylonia. They were the ones who saw what Ezekiel did. Thus they were in a position to understand the symbolism of his actions and how they showed what will happen to the people in Jerusalem.
As I have done, so shall it be done to them: What Ezekiel acted out will happen to the Israelites still in Jerusalem. Translators may say “What I did, that is what is going to happen to them.”
They shall go into exile, into captivity: This sentence makes explicit what will happen to the people in Jerusalem. The Hebrew word for exile refers to people being forced to live in a foreign country and not allowed to return home (see Ezek 12.3). The word for captivity means they are prisoners of war. These two terms are almost synonymous here. They are used to refer to the time that the Jews spent in Babylonia after Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem (that is, 597–539 B.C.). Contemporary English Version uses only one term by rendering this sentence as “they are taken away as prisoners.” However, Good News Translation keeps two terms by saying “they will be refugees and captives.” Other possible models are “They will be taken away out of their country as captives” and “Enemies will take them away from their country as prisoners of war.”
Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .