Ezekiel 11:1-13

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?”