Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 ^(A)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to ^(B)the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were ^(C)twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah ^(D)the son of Azzur, and ^(E)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ² And he said to me, ^(F)“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ^3 (G)who say, ^(H)‘The time is not near^[a] to build houses. ^(I)This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”

⁵ And ^(J)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. ^(K)For I know the things that come into your mind. ^6 (L)You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(M)Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, ^(N)they are the meat, and ^(O)this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. ^8 (P)You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. ⁹ And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ^(Q)give you into the hands of foreigners, and ^(R)execute judgments upon you. ^10 (S)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ^(T)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ^11 (U)This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. 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 obeyed my rules, ^(V)but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

¹³ And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, ^(W)that ^(X)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. ^(Y)Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, ^(Z)“Ah, Lord God! ^(AA)Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

Israel's New Heart and Spirit

¹⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me: ^15 (AB)“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,^[b] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ^(AC)‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet ^(AD)I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^[c] in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(AE)I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, ^(AF)and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And when they come there, ^(AG)they will remove from it all its ^(AH)detestable things and all its abominations. ^19 (AI)And I will give them one heart, and ^(AJ)a new spirit I will put within them. ^(AK)I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh ^(AL)and give them a heart of flesh, ^20 (AM)that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. ^(AN)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ^21 (AO)But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, ^(AP)I will^[d] bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

^22 (AQ)Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, ^(AR)and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(AS)stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. ^24 (AT)And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me ^(AU)in the vision by the Spirit of God ^(AV)into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

²⁴ And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and ^(A)fell down at his feet and ^(B)worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, ^(C)“Stand up; I too am a man.” ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. ²⁸ And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew ^(D)to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but ^(E)God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

³⁰ And Cornelius said, ^(F)“Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at ^(G)the ninth hour,^[a] and behold, ^(H)a man stood before me in bright clothing ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, ^(I)your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you at once, and you have been kind enough to come. Now therefore we are all here in the presence of God to hear all that you have been commanded by the Lord.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^(J)God ^(K)shows no partiality, ³⁵ but ^(L)in every nation anyone who fears him and ^(M)does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ As for ^(N)the word that he sent to Israel, ^(O)preaching good news of ^(P)peace through Jesus Christ (^(Q)he is Lord of all), ³⁷ you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^(R)beginning ^(S)from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: ³⁸ how ^(T)God anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^(U)with the Holy Spirit and with ^(V)power. He went about doing good and healing all ^(W)who were oppressed by the devil, ^(X)for God was with him. ³⁹ And ^(Y)we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^(Z)They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but ^(AA)God raised him on ^(AB)the third day and made him to ^(AC)appear, ^41 (AD)not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^(AE)witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² And ^(AF)he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^(AG)that he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^(AH)of the living and the dead. ^43 (AI)To him ^(AJ)all the prophets bear witness that ^(AK)everyone who believes in him receives ^(AL)forgiveness of sins ^(AM)through his name.”

The Holy Spirit Falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still saying these things, ^(AN)the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And the believers from among ^(AO)the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because ^(AP)the gift of the Holy Spirit ^(AQ)was poured out even on the Gentiles. ⁴⁶ For they were hearing them ^(AR)speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ^47 (AS)“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit ^(AT)just as we have?” ⁴⁸ And he ^(AU)commanded them ^(AV)to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.