< Ezekiel 11 >
1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of Yhwh's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.
5 And the Spirit of Yhwh fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith Yhwh; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.
6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.
8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord Yhwh.
9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.
10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Yhwh.
11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel:
12 And ye shall know that I am Yhwh: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you.
13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yhwh! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?
14 Again the word of Yhwh came unto me, saying,
15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from Yhwh: unto us is this land given in possession.
16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.
17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord Yhwh; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord Yhwh.
22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
23 And the glory of Yhwh went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.
25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that Yhwh had shewed me.