Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 12:19-20

"and say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness, and drink their water in dismay, that her land may be desolate, [and despoiled] of all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be a desolation; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah." — Ezekiel 12:19-20 (ASV)

The people of the land – Chaldea.

Of the inhabitants – In respect to “the inhabitants.”

Desolate from all that is in it – that is, stripped of all its inhabitants and of all its wealth.

At one and the same time, Jeremiah was prophesying in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel in Chaldea; the prophecies of the former were sent to the exiles, and those of Ezekiel to the dwellers in Jerusalem, that the guiding hand of One God in different places might be made clear (Jerome).