Ezekiel 11–13

VISION OF ISRAEL’S CORRUPT LEADERS

11The Spirit then lifted me up^j and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, which faces east, and at the gate’s entrance were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ²The Lord^A said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil^k and give wicked advice in this city. ³They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses?^Bl The city is the pot,^m and we are the meat.’ ⁴Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!”

⁵Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.^{n 6}You have multiplied your slain in this city,^o filling its streets with them.

⁷“ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat,^p and the city is the pot, but I^A will take you out of it.^{q 8}You fear the sword,^r so I will bring the sword against you.^s This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.^{t 10}You will fall by the sword,^u and I will judge you at the border of Israel.^v Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹The city will not be a pot for you,^w and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ¹²so you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’ ”^x

¹³Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died.^y Then I fell facedown and cried out loudly, “Oh, Lord God!^z You are bringing the remnant of Israel to an end!”

PROMISE OF ISRAEL’S RESTORATION

¹⁴The word of the Lord came to me again: ¹⁵“Son of man, your own relatives, those who have the right to redeem your property,^BC along with the entire house of Israel—all of them—are those to whom the residents of Jerusalem have said, ‘You are far from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

¹⁶“Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them^aa in the countries where they have gone.’

¹⁷“Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the peoples^ab and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’

¹⁸“When they arrive there, they will remove all its^ac abhorrent acts^ad and detestable practices from it. ¹⁹I will give them integrity of^D heart^ae and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone^af from their bodies^E and give them a heart of flesh,^{ag 20}so that they will follow my statutes,^ah keep my ordinances, and practice them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.^{ai 21}But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for abhorrent acts and detestable practices, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads.”^aj This is the declaration of the Lord God.

GOD’S GLORY LEAVES JERUSALEM

²²Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings,^ak and the glory of the God of Israel was above them. ²³The glory of the Lord^a rose up from within the city and stopped on the mountain^b east of the city.^{Fc 24}The Spirit lifted me up^d and brought me to Chaldea and to the exiles in a vision from the Spirit of God. After the vision I had seen left me, ²⁵I spoke to the exiles about all the things the Lord had shown me.

EZEKIEL DRAMATIZES THE EXILE

12The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, you are living among a rebellious house.^e They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear,^f for they are a rebellious house.^g

³“Now you, son of man, get your bags ready for exile and go into exile in their sight during the day. You will go into exile from your place to another place while they watch; perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴During the day, bring out your bags like an exile’s bags while they look on. Then in the evening go out in their sight like those going into exile. ⁵As they watch, dig through the wall and take the bags out through it. ⁶And while they look on, lift the bags to your shoulder and take them out in the dark; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”^h

⁷So I did just as I was commanded. In the daytime I brought out my bags like an exile’s bags. In the evening I dug through the wall by hand; I took them out in the dark, carrying them on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Son of man, hasn’t the house of Israel, that rebellious house,ⁱ asked you, ‘What are you doing?’^{j 10}Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: This pronouncement concerns the prince^A in Jerusalem and the whole house of Israel living there.’^{B 11}You are to say, ‘I am a sign for you. Just as I have done, it will be done to them; they will go into exile,^k into captivity.’ ¹²The prince who is among^l them will lift his bags to his shoulder in the dark and go out. They^C will dig through the wall to bring him out through it. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³But I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he will not see it,^m and he will die there. ¹⁴I will also scatter all the attendants who surround him and all his troops to every direction of the wind,ⁿ and I will draw a sword to chase after them. ¹⁵They will know that I am the Lord^o when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries.^{p 16}But I will spare a few of them from the sword,^q famine, and plague, so that among the nations where they go they can tell about all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

EZEKIEL DRAMATIZES ISRAEL’S ANXIETY

¹⁷The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸“Son of man, eat your bread with^r trembling and drink your water with anxious shaking. ¹⁹Then say to the people of the land, ‘This is what the Lord God says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their^DE land will be stripped of everything^s in it because of the violence of all who live there. ²⁰The inhabited cities will be destroyed, and the land will become dreadful. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

A DECEPTIVE PROVERB STOPPED

²¹Again the word of the Lord came to me: ²²“Son of man, what is this proverb you people have about the land of Israel,^t which goes, ‘The days keep passing by,^u and every vision fails’? ²³Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will put a stop to this proverb, and they will not use it again in Israel.’^v But say to them, ‘The days have arrived,^w as well as the fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴For there will no longer be any false vision or flattering divination^x within the house of Israel. ²⁵But I, the Lord, will speak whatever message I will speak, and it will be done.^y It will no longer be delayed.^z For in your days, rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”

²⁶The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷“Son of man, notice that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees concerns many years from now;^aa he prophesies about distant times.’ ²⁸Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: None of my words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”

ISRAEL’S FALSE PROPHETS CONDEMNED

13The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who^a are prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination,^b ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ ³This is what the Lord God says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. ⁴Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals among ruins. ⁵You did not go up to the gaps^c or restore the wall around the house of Israel so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord. ⁶They saw false visions and their divinations were a lie.^d They claimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” when the Lord did not send them,^e yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message. ⁷Didn’t you see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you proclaimed, “This is the Lord’s declaration,” even though I had not spoken?

⁸“ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: You have spoken falsely and had lying visions; that’s why you discover that I am against you. This is the declaration of the Lord God. ⁹My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and speak lying divinations.^f They will not be present in the council of my people or be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, and they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰“ ‘Since they have led my people astray by saying, “Peace,”^g when there is no peace, and since when a flimsy wall is being built, they plaster it with whitewash,^{h 11}therefore, tell those plastering it with whitewash that it will fall. Torrential rain will come,ⁱ and I will send hailstones plunging^A down, and a whirlwind will be released. ¹²When the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, “Where’s the whitewash you plastered on it?”

¹³“ ‘So this is what the Lord God says: I will release a whirlwind in my wrath. Torrential rain will come in my anger, and hailstones will fall in destructive fury. ¹⁴I will demolish the wall you plastered with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed.^j The city will fall, and you will be destroyed within it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵After I exhaust my wrath…