Ezekiel 11

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.