14 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,n 15 “Son of man,o your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, ⌊who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem⌋,p ‘They are far from Yahweh, therefore to us this land was given as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries ⌊to which they have gone⌋.’ ”q 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you. 18 And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it. 19 And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will giver in their inner parts. And I will remove theirs heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God. 21 But tot the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” ⌊declares⌋u the Lord Yahweh.’ ”

22 Thenv the cherubim lifted up their wings, and theirw wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel ⌊was over them⌋.x 23 And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles,y in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen ⌊left me⌋.z 25 And I spoke to the exilesa all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.

The Announcement of the Imminent Coming of the Exile

12 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Son of man,b you are dwelling in the midst of the house of rebellion ⌊who has eyes to see and they do not see⌋;c ⌊they have ears to hear⌋,d and they do not hear, for they are a house of rebellion. 3 And you, son of man,e prepare for yourselff the baggage of an exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. And you must go intog exile from your place to another place before their eyes; perhaps they will see that they are a house of rebellion. 4 And you must bring out your baggage like the baggage of an exile by day before their eyes, and you must go out in the evening before their eyes like ⌊those who go into exile⌋.h 5 Before their eyes dig through for yourself,i through the wall, and you must bring the baggage out through it. 6 Before their eyes, on yourj shoulder, you must lift up the baggage in the dusk, and your face you must cover, so that you may not see the land, for I make you as a sign to the house of Israel.” 7 And I did ⌊just as⌋k I was commanded; my baggage, like the baggage of an exile, I brought out by day, and in the evening I dug through for myselfl intom the wall with my hand in the dusk; I brought the baggage on my shoulder; I carried it before their eyes. 8 And the word of Yahweh came to me in the morning, ⌊saying⌋,n 9 “Son of man,o did not they, the house of Israel, the house of rebellion, say to you, ‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “This oracle is about the prince in Jerusalem and ⌊the entire⌋p house of Israel ⌊who are among them⌋.” ’q 11 Say, ‘I am your sign, and ⌊just as⌋r I did, so will it be done to them in the exile; intos captivity they will go.’ 12 And the prince who is in the midst of them, on his shoulder he will carry the baggage in the dusk, andt he will go out; ⌊the wall will be dug through⌋u to bring him through it; and he will cover his face so that he willv not see the land with hisw eye. 13 And I will spread out my net on him, and he will be captured in my hunting snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die. 14 And all who are around him, his helpx and all of his troops I will scatter ⌊in every direction⌋,y and I will drawz the sword behind them. 15 And they will know that I am Yahweh ⌊when I scatter them⌋a among the nations and I scatter them in the countries. 16 Butb I will spare from them ⌊a few men⌋c from the sword, from the famine and from the plague, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations to which they will go, and they will know that I am Yahweh.”

17 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,d 18 “Son of man,e you must eat your food with trembling, and your water with shuddering, and with anxiety you must drink. 19 And you must say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the inhabitants of Jerusalem about the land of Israel: “They will eat their food with anxiety and their water they will drink with horror, because their land will be desolate fromf its fullness because of all the violence of ⌊those who are dwelling in it⌋.g 20 And ⌊the inhabited cites will be desolate⌋,h and the land will be a desolation, and you will know that I am Yahweh.” ’ ”

21 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,i 22 “Son of man,j what is this proverb ⌊you people have⌋k about the land of Israel, ⌊saying⌋,l ‘⌊The days are prolonged⌋,m and every vision has come to nothing.’ 23 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will put an end to this proverb, and they will not quote it as a proverb again in Israel.” ’ Butn say to them, ‘The days are near, and also the word of every vision.’ 24 For there will not be any longer ⌊any false vision⌋o or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel. 25 For I, Yahweh, I will speak what I will speak as a word, and it will be done. It will not prolong itself any longer, for in your days, house of rebellion, I will speak a word and I will fulfill it!” ⌊declares⌋p the Lord Yahweh. 26 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,q 27 “Son of man,r look! The house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he is seeing is for many days from now, and for distant times he is prophesying.’ 28 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “None of my words will be prolonged any longer that I speak as a word, and it will be fulfilled!” ’ ” ⌊declares⌋s the Lord Yahweh.

Condemnation of False Prophets

13 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ⌊saying⌋,a 2 “Son of man,b prophesy toc the prophets of Israel ⌊who are prophesying⌋,d and you must say to those who are prophets out of their own ⌊imagination⌋,e ‘Hear the word of Yahweh!’ 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Alas, for the foolish prophets who are going after their own spirit, ⌊and they did not see anything⌋!f 4 Your prophets have been like foxesg among ruins. 5 You did not go up intoh the breaches and repair a wall for the house of Israel to stand firm in the battle on the day of Yahweh. 6 They saw falseness and ⌊a lying divination⌋,i the ones saying, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ and Yahweh did not send them, and they wait ⌊for the confirmation of their word⌋.j 7 Have you not seen ⌊a false vision⌋k and spoken a ⌊lying divination⌋,l and you said, ‘Declaration of Yahweh!’ but ⌊I myself did not speak⌋.m 8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Because of your speaking falseness and because you envisioned a lie, therefore, look! I am against you!” ⌊declares⌋n the Lord Yahweh. 9 “And it will be my hand against the prophets who are seeing falseness and who are practicing lying divination. They will not be in the council of my people, and they will not be written down in the record book of the house of Israel, and intoo the land of Israel they will not come, and then you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh. 10 Because, yes, because they led my people astray, ⌊saying⌋p ‘Peace!’ And there is not peace. And when anyoneq builds a flimsy wall, look, they coat it with whitewash. 11 Say to those covering it with whitewash that it will fall; there will be ⌊a torrent of rain⌋,r and I will give stones of hail; they will fall! s And a ⌊windstorm⌋t will burst forth! 12 And look! When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And so I will let burst forth a ⌊windstorm⌋u in my rage, and ⌊there will be a torrent of rain⌋v in my anger, and hailstones in my rage ⌊for complete destruction⌋.w 14 And I will break down the wall that you covered with whitewash, and I will knock it to the ground, and its foundation will be revealed, and it will fall, and you will come to an end in the midst of it, and you will know that I am Yahweh! 15 And I will fully vent my rage against the wall and against those covering it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “⌊The wall is no more⌋,x and ⌊the people covering it are no more⌋,y 16 that is, the prophets of Israel, the ones prophesying concerning Jerusalem and the ones seeing visions of peace, and there is not peace!’ ” ” ⌊declares⌋z the Lord Yahweh.

17 “And you, son of man,a place your face toward the daughters of your people who prophesy from their ⌊imagination⌋,b and prophesy against them! 18 And you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to ⌊those who sew⌋c magic charm bands on all the wristsd of the hands of my people and ⌊those who make the veils⌋e that are on the head of people of every height, to ensnare people’s lives!f Will you ensnare the livesg of my people ⌊and keep yourselves alive⌋?h 19 And you defiled me among my people for a handful of barley and for morsels of bread to kill persons who should not die and to keep alive persons who should not live by means of your lies to my people who are listening to your lies.” ’i 20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am against your magic charm bands ⌊with which you are ensnaring persons⌋j as birds; I will tear them from your arms, and I will release the persons that you are ensnaring, treating persons as birds. 21 And