Ezekiel 11
Common English Bible
11 A wind lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple. There at the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw that two officials of the people, Jaazaniah, Azzur’s son, and Pelatiah, Benaiah’s son, were with them.
2 He said to me: Human one, these men devise evil plans and give wicked advice in this city. 3 They are the ones who say, “The nearest relatives aren’t building houses.[a] The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.” 4 Therefore, prophesy against them, human one, prophesy! 5 The Lord’s spirit took hold of me, and he said to me: Say, This is what the Lord God proclaims: So you have said, house of Israel! But I know what you really mean. 6 You continue to commit murder in this city, and you fill its streets with the slain.
7 Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: The city is the cooking pot, and the ones you have slain in it are the meat. But you will be taken out of it. 8 You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you. This is what the Lord God says! 9 I will lead you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you. 10 You will fall by the sword! At Israel’s borders I will judge you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 11 The city won’t be your cooking pot, and you won’t be the meat in it. At Israel’s borders, I will judge you. 12 You will know that I am the Lord, whose regulations you didn’t observe and whose case laws you didn’t follow. Instead, you followed the case laws of the nations around you.
13 While I was prophesying, Benaiah’s son Pelatiah dropped dead. I fell on my face, and I wailed and said, “Oh, Lord God! Are you finishing off even the Israelites who are left?”
14 The Lord’s word came to me: 15 Human one, when the people living in Jerusalem said, “They’ve gone far from the Lord, and we’ve been given the land as an inheritance,” they were talking about your family, your nearest relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of it.
16 Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: Even though I made them go far away among the nations and caused them to scatter throughout the earth, I’ve provided some sanctuary for them in the countries to which they’ve gone.
17 Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: I will gather you from the nations, assemble you from the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you Israel’s fertile land. 18 They will enter the land, and they will remove from it all its disgusting and detestable things. 19 I will give them a single heart, and I will put a new spirit in them. I will remove the stony hearts from their bodies and give them hearts of flesh 20 so that they may follow my regulations and carefully observe my case laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 As for those whose hearts continue to go after their disgusting and detestable things, I will hold them accountable for their ways. This is what the Lord God says!
22 Then the winged creatures raised their wings. The wheels were next to them, and the glory of Israel’s God was above them. 23 The Lord’s glory ascended from the middle of the city, and it stopped at the mountain east of the city. 24 And a wind lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea, through a vision with a divine wind.[b] When the vision I had seen left me, 25 I spoke to the exiles about everything the Lord had shown to me.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 11:3 Or it is not time to build houses
- Ezekiel 11:24 Or spirit
Ezekiel 11
New King James Version
Judgment on Wicked Counselors
11 Then (A)the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to (B)the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there (C)at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked [a]counsel in this city, 3 who say, ‘The time is not (D)near to build houses; (E)this city is the [b]caldron, and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”
5 Then (F)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! ‘Thus says the Lord: “Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for (G)I know the things that come into your mind. 6 (H)You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.” 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: (I)“Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; (J)but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. 8 You have (K)feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord God. 9 “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and (L)execute judgments on you. 10 (M)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at (N)the border of Israel. (O)Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 11 (P)This city shall not be your [c]caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. 12 And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but (Q)have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” ’ ”
13 Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that (R)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then (S)I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”
God Will Restore Israel
14 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, (T)yet I shall be a little [d]sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: (U)“I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’ 18 And they will go there, and they will take away all its (V)detestable things and all its abominations from there. 19 Then (W)I will give them one heart, and I will put (X)a new spirit within [e]them, and take (Y)the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 (Z)that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; (AA)and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, (AB)I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
22 So the cherubim (AC)lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And (AD)the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood (AE)on the mountain, (AF)which is on the east side of the city.
24 Then (AG)the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into [f]Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 11:2 Advice
- Ezekiel 11:3 Pot
- Ezekiel 11:11 Pot
- Ezekiel 11:16 holy place
- Ezekiel 11:19 Lit. you (pl.)
- Ezekiel 11:24 Or Babylon, and so elsewhere in the book
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
