Ezekiel 7:23-27

It was time to make the chain that would bind the Israelites and carry them off to captivity because Judah and Jerusalem had become places of violent crime. Some interpreters believed God commanded Ezekiel to make a literal chain and that this was another symbolic act. [Note: Ibid.] The Lord would bring the worst of nations against His people, and they would take over the Judahites’ homes (cf. Leviticus 26:31-32; Deuteronomy 28:49-57). The pride of the powerful Judahites would end, and their enemies would profane their holy places. They would not be able to escape anguish, and things would go from bad to worse for them. No one would be able to obtain guidance from the Lord-the prophets by receiving revelations, the priests by studying the law, or the elders by appealing to history. Everyone from king to common citizen would shake with terror. The Lord would punish His people in keeping with how they had sinned, and they would know that He was the Lord.

"This is a frightening chapter. It consists of a group of poetic oracles intended to convince Ezekiel’s fellow hostages in the Babylonian heartland that their hopes of returning soon to their homes and families in far-off Judah would not materialize." [Note: Allen, p. 112.]