Ezekiel 11:1-13
Christian Standard Bible
Vision of Israel’s Corrupt Leaders
11 The Spirit then lifted me up(A) and brought me to the eastern gate of the Lord’s house, which faces east, and at the gate’s entrance were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur, and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 The Lord[a] said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil(B) and give wicked advice in this city. 3 They are saying, ‘Isn’t the time near to build houses?[b](C) The city is the pot,(D) and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me, “You are to say, ‘This is what the Lord says: That is what you are thinking, house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your mind.(E) 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city,(F) filling its streets with them.
7 “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: The slain you have put within it are the meat,(G) and the city is the pot, but I[c] will take you out of it.(H) 8 You fear the sword,(I) so I will bring the sword against you.(J) This is the declaration of the Lord God. 9 I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners; I will execute judgments against you.(K) 10 You will fall by the sword,(L) and I will judge you at the border of Israel.(M) Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 The city will not be a pot for you,(N) and you will not be the meat within it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, 12 so you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not practiced. Instead, you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.’”(O)
13 Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died.(P) Then I fell facedown and cried out loudly, “Oh, Lord God!(Q) You are bringing the remnant of Israel to an end!”
Read full chapter
Ezekiel 11:1-13
New English Translation
The Fall of Jerusalem
11 A wind[a] lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.[b] 2 The Lord[c] said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. 3 They say,[d] ‘The time is not near to build houses;[e] the city[f] is a cooking pot,[g] and we are the meat in it.’ 4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came[h] upon me and said to me, “Say: ‘This is what the Lord says: This is what you are thinking,[i] O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds.[j] 6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ 7 Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped[k] in the midst of the city[l] are the meat, and this city[m] is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it.[n] 8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 ‘But I will take you out of the city.[o] And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not[p] be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”
13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!”[q]
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Ezekiel 11:1 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
- Ezekiel 11:1 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
- Ezekiel 11:2 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Ezekiel 11:3 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
- Ezekiel 11:3 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
- Ezekiel 11:3 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 11:3 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
- Ezekiel 11:5 tn Heb “fell.”
- Ezekiel 11:5 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
- Ezekiel 11:5 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
- Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “placed.”
- Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “in its midst.”
- Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.
- Ezekiel 11:7 tc Many of the versions have “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).
- Ezekiel 11:9 tn Heb “its midst.”
- Ezekiel 11:11 tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.
- Ezekiel 11:13 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense, and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.