Ezekiel 11

1 And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the east gate of the house of the Lord, which looketh towards the rising of the sun: and behold in the entry of the gate five and twenty men: and I saw in the midst of them Jezonias the son of Azur, and Pheltias the son of Banaias, princes of the people.

Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people.

2 And he said to me: Son of man, these are the men that study iniquity, and frame a wicked counsel in this city,

And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.

3 Saying: Were not houses lately built? This city is the caldron, and we the flesh.

They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’

4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, thou son of man.

Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man!”

5 And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me: Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Thus have you spoken, O house of Israel, for I know the thoughts of your heart.

And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds.

6 You have killed a great many in this city, and you have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Your slain, whom you have laid in the midst thereof, they are the flesh, and this is the caldron: and I will bring you forth out of the midst thereof.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it.

8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, saith the Lord God.

You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.

9 And I will cast you out of the midst thereof, and I will deliver you into the hand of the enemies, and I will execute judgments upon you.

I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you.

10 You shall fall by the sword: I will judge you in the borders of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord.

You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

11 This shall not be as a caldron to you, and you shall not be as flesh in the midst thereof: I will judge you in the borders of Israel.

The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel.

12 And you shall know that I am the Lord: because you have not walked in my commandments, and have not done my judgments, but you have done according to the judgments of the nations that; are round about you.

Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”

13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pheltias the son of Banaias died: and I fell down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice: and said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God: wilt thou make an end of all the remnant of Israel?

Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Oh, Lord GOD, will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

14 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

15 Son of man, thy brethren, thy brethren, thy kinsmen, and all the house of Israel, all they to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said: Get ye far from the Lord, the land is given in possession to us.

“Son of man, your brothers—your relatives, your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel—are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far away from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because I have removed them far off among the Gentiles, and because I have scattered them among the countries: I will be to them a little sanctuary in the countries whither they are come.

Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Although 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 in the countries to which they have gone.’

17 Therefore speak to them: Thus saith the Lord God: I will gather you from among the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Therefore declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries to which you have been scattered, and I will give back to you the land of Israel.’

18 And they shall go in thither, and shall take away all the scandals, and all the abominations thereof from thence.

When they return to it, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations.

19 And I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh:

And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,

20 That they may walk in my commandments, and keep my judgments, and do them: and that they may be my people, and I may be their God.

so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.

21 But as for them whose heart walketh after their scandals and abominations, I will lay their way upon their head, saith the Lord God.

But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

22 And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and the wheels with them: and the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

23 And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mount that is on the east side of the city.

And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city and stood over the mountain east of the city.

24 And the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into Chaldea, to them of the captivity, in vision, by the spirit of God: and the vision which I had seen was taken up from me.

And the Spirit lifted me up and carried me back to Chaldea, to the exiles in the vision given by the Spirit of God. After the vision had gone up from me,

25 And I spoke to them of the captivity all the words of the Lord, which he had shewn me.

I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.