Ezekiel Condemns Jerusalem's Wicked Leaders

11 The Lord's Spirit^[a] lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the temple, where I saw 25 men, including the two leaders, Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah. ² The Lord said, “Ezekiel, son of man, these men are making evil plans and giving dangerous advice to the people of Jerusalem. ³ They say things like, ‘Let's build more houses.^[b] This city is like a cooking pot over a fire, and we are the meat, but at least the pot keeps us from being burned in the fire.’^{[c] 4} So, Ezekiel, condemn them!”

⁵ The Lord's Spirit took control of me and told me to tell these leaders:

I, the Lord God, know what you leaders are saying. ⁶ You have murdered so many people that the city is filled with dead bodies! ⁷ This city is indeed a cooking pot, but the bodies of those you killed are the meat. And so I will force you to leave Jerusalem, ⁸ and I'll send armies to attack you, just as you fear. ⁹ Then you will be captured and punished by foreign enemies.^{[d] 10} You will be killed in your own country, but not before you realize that I, the Lord, have done these things.

¹¹ You leaders claim to be meat in a cooking pot, but you won't be protected by this city. No, you will die at the border of Israel. ¹² You will realize that while you were following the laws of nearby nations, you were disobeying my laws and teachings. And I am the Lord!

¹³ Before I finished speaking, Pelatiah dropped dead. I bowed down and cried out, “Please, Lord God, don't kill everyone left in Israel.”

A Promise of Hope

¹⁴ The Lord replied:

¹⁵ Ezekiel, son of man, the people living in Jerusalem claim that you and the other Israelites who were taken to Babylonia are too far away to worship me. They also claim that the land of Israel now belongs only to them. ¹⁶ But here is what I want you to tell the Israelites in Babylonia:

It's true that I, the Lord God, have forced you out of your own country and made you live among foreign nations. But for now, I will be with you wherever you are, so that you can worship me. ¹⁷ And someday, I will gather you from the nations where you are scattered and let you live in Israel again. ¹⁸ When that happens, I want you to clear the land of all those idols I hate so much. ^19 (A) Then I will take away your stubbornness and make you eager to be completely faithful to me. You will want to obey me ²⁰ and all my laws and teachings. You will be my people, and I will be your God. ²¹ But those who worship idols will be punished and get what they deserve. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

The Lord's Glory Leaves Jerusalem

^22 (B) After the Lord had finished speaking, the winged creatures spread their wings and flew into the air, and the wheels were beside them. The brightness of the Lord's glory above them ²³ left Jerusalem and stopped at a hill east of the city.

²⁴ Then in my vision, the Lord's Spirit^[e] lifted me up and carried me back to the other exiles in Babylonia. The vision faded away, ²⁵ and I told them everything the Lord had shown me.

Ezekiel Acts Out Israel's Captivity

12 The Lord said:

^2 (C) Ezekiel, son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but refuse to see; they have ears, but refuse to listen. ³ So before it gets dark, here is what I want you to do. Pack a few things as though you were going to be taken away as a prisoner. Then go outside where everyone can see you and walk around from place to place. Maybe as they watch, they will realize what rebels they are. ⁴ After you have done this, return to your house.

Later that evening leave your house as if you were going into exile. ⁵ Dig through the wall of your house^[f] and crawl out, carrying the bag with you. Make sure everyone is watching. ⁶ Lift the bag to your shoulders, and with your face covered, take it into the darkness, so that you cannot see the land you are leaving. All this will be a warning for the people of Israel.

⁷ I did everything the Lord had said. I packed a few things. Then as the sun was going down, and while everyone was watching, I dug a hole through one of the walls of my house. I pulled out my bag, then lifted it to my shoulders and left in the darkness.

⁸ The next morning, the Lord ⁹ reminded me that those rebellious people didn't even ask what I was doing. ¹⁰ So he sent me back to tell them:

The Lord God has a message for the leader of Jerusalem and everyone living there!

¹¹ I have done these things to show them what will happen when they are taken away as prisoners.

¹² The leader of Jerusalem will lift his own bag to his shoulders at sunset and leave through a hole that the others have dug in the wall of his house. He will cover his face, so he can't see the land he is leaving. ^13 (D) The Lord will spread out a net and trap him as he leaves Jerusalem. He will then be led away to the city of Babylon, but will never see that place,^[g] even though he will die there. ¹⁴ His own officials and troops will scatter in every direction, and the Lord will track them down and put them to death.

¹⁵ The Lord will force the rest of the people in Jerusalem to live in foreign nations, where they will realize that he has done all these things. ¹⁶ Some of them will survive the war, the starvation, and the deadly diseases. That way, they will be able to tell foreigners how disgusting their sins were, and that it was the Lord who punished them in this way.

A Sign of Fear

¹⁷ The Lord said:

¹⁸ Ezekiel, son of man, shake with fear when you eat, and tremble when you drink. ¹⁹ Tell the people of Israel that I, the Lord, say that someday everyone in Jerusalem will shake when they eat and tremble when they drink. Their country will be destroyed and left empty, because they have been cruel and violent. ²⁰ Every town will lie in ruins, and the land will be a barren desert. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

The Words of the Lord Will Come True

²¹ The Lord said:

²² Ezekiel, son of man, you've heard people in Israel use the saying, “Time passes, and prophets are proved wrong.” ²³ Now tell the people that I, the Lord, am going to prove that saying wrong. No one will ever be able to use it again in Israel, because very soon everything I have said will come true! ²⁴ The people will hear no more useless warnings and false messages. ²⁵ I will give them my message, and what I say will certainly happen. Warn those rebels that the time has come for them to be punished. I, the Lord, make this promise.

^26-27 Ezekiel, the people of Israel are also saying that your visions and messages are only about things in the future. ²⁸ So tell them that my words will soon come true, just as I have warned. I, the Lord, have spoken.

Lying Prophets

13 The Lord said:

² Ezekiel, son of man, condemn the prophets of Israel who say they speak in my name, but who preach messages that come from their own imagination. Tell them it's time to hear my message.

³ I, the Lord God, say those lying prophets are doomed! They don't see visions—they make up their own messages! ⁴ Israel's prophets are no better than jackals^[h] that hunt for food among the ruins of a city. ⁵ They don't warn the people about coming trouble or tell them how dangerous it is to sin against me. ⁶ Those prophets lie by claiming they speak for me, but I have not even chosen them to be my prophets. And they still think their words will come true. ⁷ They say they're preaching my messages, but they are full of lies—I did not speak to them!

⁸ So I am going to punish those lying prophets for deceiving the people of Israel with false messages. ⁹ I will turn against them and no longer let them belong to my people. They will not be allowed to call themselves Israelites or even to set foot in Israel. Then they will realize that I am the Lord God.

^10 (E) Those prophets refuse to be honest. They tell my people there will be peace, even though there's no peace to be found. They are like workers who think they can fix a shaky wall by covering it with paint. ¹¹ But when I send rainstorms, hailstones, and strong winds, the wall will surely collapse. ¹² People will then ask the workers why the paint didn't hold it up.

¹³ That wall is the city of Jerusalem. And I, the Lord God, am so angry that I will send strong winds, rainstorms, and hailstones to destroy it. ¹⁴ The lying prophets have tried to cover up the evil in Jerusalem, but I will tear down the city, all the way to its foundations. And when it collapses, those prophets will be killed, and everyone will know that I have done these things.

¹⁵ The city of Jerusalem and its lying prophets will feel my fierce anger. Then I will announce that the city has fallen and that the lying prophets are dead, ¹⁶ because they promised my people peace, when there was no peace. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Women Who Wear Magic Charms

The Lord said:

¹⁷ Ezekiel, son of man, now condemn the women of Israel who preach messages that come from their own imagination. ¹⁸ Tell them they're doomed! They wear magic charms on their wrists and scarves on their heads, then trick others into believing they can predict the future.^[i] They won't get away with telling those lies. ¹⁹ They charge my people a few handfuls of barley and a couple pieces of bread, and then give messages that are insulting to me. They use lies to sentence the innocent to death and to help the guilty go free. And my people believe them!

²⁰ I hate the magic charms they use to trick people into believing their lies. I will rip those charms from their wrists and set free the people they have trapped like birds.^{[j] 21} I will tear the scarves from their heads and rescue my people from their power once and for all. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.

²² They do things I would never do. They lie to good people and encourage them to do wrong, and they convince the wicked to ruin their own lives by not turning from sin. ²³ I will no longer let these women give false messages and use magic, and I will free my people from their control. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have done these things.

1 ^(A) From James, a servant of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Greetings to the twelve tribes scattered all over the world.^[a]

Faith and Wisdom

^2 (B) My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. ³ You know you learn to endure by having your faith tested. ⁴ But you must learn to endure everything, so you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

^5 (C) If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won't correct you for asking. ⁶ But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. ^7-8 If you are that kind of person, you can't make up your mind, and you surely can't be trusted. So don't expect the Lord to give you anything at all.

Poor People and Rich People

⁹ Any of God's people who are poor should be glad he thinks so highly of them. ^10 (D) But any who are rich should be glad when God makes them humble. Rich people will disappear like wild flowers ¹¹ scorched by the burning heat of the sun. The flowers lose their blossoms, and their beauty is destroyed. This is how the rich will disappear, as they go about their business.

Trials and Temptations

^12 (E) God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life,^[b] just as he rewards everyone who loves him.

^13 (F) Don't blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn't use evil to tempt others. ¹⁴ We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. ¹⁵ Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.

¹⁶ Don't be fooled, my dear friends. ¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. ¹⁸ He wanted us to be his own special people,^[c] and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.

Hearing and Obeying

^19 (G) My dear friends, you should be quick to listen and slow to speak or to get angry. ²⁰ If you are angry, you cannot do any of the good things God wants done. ²¹ You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead be humble and accept the message planted in you to save you.

²² Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it. ²³ If you hear the message and don't obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror ²⁴ and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. ²⁵ But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don't just hear and forget.

²⁶ If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless. ²⁷ Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.