Ezekiel 11–13

Chapter 11

Evil Rulers to Be Judged

¹Moreover, the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^bPelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

²He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and ^agive evil advice in this city,

³who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ²This ^acity is the pot and we are the flesh.’

⁴“Therefore, ^aprophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for ^aI know ¹your ^bthoughts.

⁶“You have ^amultiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ¹them.”

⁷‘Therefore, thus says the Lord ¹God, “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ²the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ³I will ^bbring you out of it.

⁸“You have ^afeared a sword; so I will ^bbring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares.

⁹“And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city and deliver you into the hands of ^astrangers and ^bexecute judgments against you.

¹⁰“You will ^afall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^bborder of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹¹“This city will ^anot be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel.

¹²“Thus you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^aexecuted My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^bnations around you.” ’ ”

¹³Now it came about as I prophesied, that ^aPelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^bAlas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁵“Son of man, your brothers, your ¹relatives, ²your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the Lord; this land has been given ^aus as a possession.’

¹⁶“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^asanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.” ’

¹⁷“Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will ^agather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’

¹⁸“When they come there, they will ^aremove all its ^bdetestable things and all its abominations from it.

¹⁹“And I will ^agive them one heart, and put a new spirit within ¹them. And I will take the ^bheart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^cheart of flesh,

²⁰that they may ^awalk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God.

²¹“¹But as for those whose hearts go after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^bbring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

²²Then the cherubim ^alifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^bthe glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them.

²³The ^aglory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city.

²⁴And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ¹in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^2bleft me.

²⁵Then I ^atold the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Chapter 12

Ezekiel Prepares for Exile

¹Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, you live in the ^amidst of the ^brebellious house, who ^chave eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house.

³“Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. ^aPerhaps they will ¹understand though they are a rebellious house.

⁴“Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out ^aat evening in their sight, as those going into exile.

⁵“Dig a hole through the wall in their sight and ¹go out through it.

⁶“Load the baggage on your shoulder in their sight and carry it out in the dark. You shall ^acover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^bsign to the house of Israel.”

⁷I ^adid so, as I had been commanded. By day I ^bbrought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸In the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the ^arebellious house, said to you, ‘^bWhat are you doing?’

¹⁰“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord ¹God, “This ^2aburden concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ³in it.” ’

¹¹“Say, ‘I am ¹a ^asign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will ^bgo into exile, into captivity.’

¹²“The ^aprince who is among them will load his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. ¹They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he can not see the land with his eyes.

¹³“I will also spread My ^anet over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will ^bnot see it, though he will die there.

¹⁴“I will ^ascatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them.

¹⁵“So they will ^aknow that I am the Lord when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries.

¹⁶“But I will ¹spare a few of them from the ^asword, the famine and the pestilence that they may tell all their abominations among the nations where they go, and ²may ^bknow that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

¹⁸“Son of man, ^aeat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.

¹⁹“Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because ¹their land will be ^2astripped of its fullness on account of the violence of all who live in it.

²⁰“The inhabited ^acities will be laid waste and the ^bland will be a desolation. So you will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

²¹Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²²“Son of man, what is this ^aproverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The ^bdays are long and every ^cvision fails’?

²³“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But tell them, “^aThe days draw near as well as the ¹fulfillment of every vision.

²⁴“For there will no longer be any ^1afalse vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.

²⁵“For I the Lord will speak, and whatever ^aword I speak will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, for in ^byour days, O ^crebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it,” declares the Lord God.’ ”

²⁶Furthermore, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²⁷“Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for ^amany ¹years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’

²⁸“Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be performed,” ’ ” declares the Lord God.

Chapter 13

False Prophets Condemned

¹Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

²“Son of man, prophesy against the ^aprophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own ¹inspiration, ‘^bListen to the word of the Lord!

³‘Thus says the Lord ¹God, “Woe to the ^afoolish prophets who are following their own spirit and have ^bseen nothing.

⁴“O Israel, your prophets have been like foxes among ruins.

⁵“You have not ^agone up into the ^bbreaches, nor did you build the wall around the house of Israel to stand in the battle on the ^cday of the Lord.

⁶“They see ^1afalsehood and lying divination who are saying, ‘The Lord declares,’ when the Lord has not sent them; ^byet they hope for the fulfillment of their word.

⁷“^aDid you not see a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” ’ ”

⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken ¹falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, ^aI am against you,” declares the Lord God.

⁹“So My hand will be against the ^aprophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will ¹have no place in the council of My people, ^bnor will they be written down in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel, ²that you may know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁰“It is definitely because they have ^amisled My people by saying, ‘^bPeace!’ when there is ^cno peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash;

¹¹so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A ^aflooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind will break out.

¹²“Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, ‘Where is the plaster with which you plastered it?’ ”

¹³Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and ^ahailstones to consume it in wrath.

¹⁴“So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its ^afoundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be ^bconsumed in its midst. And you will ^cknow that I am the Lord.

¹⁵“Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall ¹is gone and its…