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.

Judah’s Captivity Portrayed

12 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ² “Son of man, you dwell in the midst of ^(AH)a rebellious house, which ^(AI)has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; ^(AJ)for they are a rebellious house.

³ “Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴ By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those who go into captivity. ⁵ Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your belongings out through it. ⁶ In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the ground, ^(AK)for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷ So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity, and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight, and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, ^(AL)the rebellious house, said to you, ^(AM)‘What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “This ^(AN)burden^[g] concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them.” ’ ¹¹ Say, ^(AO)‘I am a sign to you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; ^(AP)they shall be carried away into captivity.’ ¹² And ^(AQ)the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes. ¹³ I will also spread My ^(AR)net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. ^(AS)I will bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it, though he shall die there. ^14 (AT)I will scatter to every wind all who are around him to help him, and all his troops; and ^(AU)I will draw out the sword after them.

^15 (AV)“Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. ^16 (AW)But I will spare a few of their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Judgment Not Postponed

¹⁷ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, ^(AX)eat your bread with ^[h]quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. ¹⁹ And say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the land of Israel: “They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their water with dread, so that her land may ^(AY)be emptied of all who are in it, ^(AZ)because of the violence of all those who dwell in it. ²⁰ Then the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”

²¹ And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²² “Son of man, what is this proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, ^(BA)‘The days are prolonged, and every vision fails’? ²³ Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.” ’ But say to them, ‘ ^(BB)“The days are at hand, and the ^[i]fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For ^(BC)no more shall there be any ^(BD)false^[j] vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I am the Lord. I speak, and ^(BE)the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and ^(BF)perform it,” says the Lord God.’ ”

²⁶ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^27 (BG)“Son of man, look, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is ^(BH)for many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ ^28 (BI)Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak ^(BJ)will be done,” says the Lord God.’ ”