Disaster comes upon disaster: As the Babylonian army advances through the land of Israel, there will be one disaster after another. Every defeat in battle, every village that is captured by the Babylonians, will be a disaster for the Israelites.

Rumor follows rumor: The Hebrew clause here refers either to the way rumors will spread like wildfire during the war (so Revised Standard Version), or to the fact that every report will bring bad news about how the war is going (so Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). A possible model for the first two clauses of this verse is “Disaster will follow disaster. Bad news will follow bad news.”

They seek a vision from the prophet: In this terrifying situation the Israelites will seek guidance from God. They will turn to prophets, to whom God often shows the future in visions or dreams (see, for example, 1 Kgs 22.5-7). But, although it is not stated explicitly, God will not give them guidance in this way. For translating prophet, see the comments on 2.5. The prophet is best understood to represent prophets in general, not one particular prophet. So translators may say “the prophets” (Good News Translation) or “a prophet” (New Century Version). A possible model for this clause is “They will go to a prophet to ask for a message God has given him in a vision.”

But the law perishes from the priest: The Israelites will also go to the priests, who should be able to instruct them from God’s Law. However, the priests will have nothing to teach them because God will not give them the knowledge to instruct the people. The law here does not refer to the legal code of the judicial court. Rather, it refers to God’s “teachings” (New Century Version), “instruction” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “guidance” (Revised English Bible). For priest see the comments on 1.3. Like the prophet, the priest refers to more than one priest, so it is better rendered “the priests” or “a priest.”

And counsel from the elders: The Israelites will also ask their elders for advice, but they will not be able to help either. The verb perishes is implied here. The elders are the old men who have gained wisdom and experience in life. Good News Translation provides a helpful model for this clause, saying “and the elders will have no advice to give.”

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 .