Historical

Judgment on Evil Counselors

11 Moreover, the ^(A)Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of Yahweh which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate, there were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^(B)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. ² He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wickedness and ^(C)give evil counsel in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ^[a]This ^(D)city is the pot, and we are the flesh.’ ⁴ Therefore, ^(E)prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of Yahweh fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “So you say, house of Israel, for ^(F)I know what comes up in your ^(G)spirit. ⁶ You have ^(H)multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with ^[b]them.” ⁷ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “Your ^(I)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^[c]the city are the flesh, and this city is the pot; but ^[d]I will ^(J)bring you out of it. ⁸ You have ^(K)feared a sword; so a sword I will ^(L)bring upon you,” Lord Yahweh declares. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the midst of ^[e]the city and give you into the hands of ^(M)strangers and ^(N)execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will ^(O)fall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^(P)border of Israel; so you shall know that I am Yahweh. ¹¹ This city will ^(Q)not be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel. ¹² Thus you will know that I am Yahweh; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^(R)executed My judgments, but have executed according to the judgments of the ^(S)nations around you.”’”

¹³ Now it happened as I prophesied, that ^(T)Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^(U)Alas, Lord Yahweh! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to complete destruction?”

Yahweh Will Gather the Exiles

¹⁴ Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your ^[f]relatives, ^[g]your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from Yahweh; this land has been given to ^(V)us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^(W)sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will ^(X)gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ ¹⁸ When they come there, they will ^(Y)remove all its ^(Z)detestable things and all its abominations from it. ¹⁹ And I will ^(AA)give them one heart and give within ^[h]them a new spirit. And I will take the ^(AB)heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^(AC)heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may ^(AD)walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. Then they will be ^(AE)My people, and I shall be their God. ^21 [i]But as for those whose hearts walk after their ^(AF)detestable things and abominations, I will ^(AG)give what is due for their way on their heads,” declares Lord Yahweh.

The Glory of Yahweh Leaves Jerusalem

²² Then the cherubim ^(AH)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^(AI)the glory of the God of Israel ^[j]hovered over them. ²³ The ^(AJ)glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city and ^(AK)stood over the mountain which is east of the city. ²⁴ Now the ^(AL)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in ^[k]Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^(AM)went up and away from me. ²⁵ Then I ^(AN)told the exiles all the things that Yahweh had shown me.

The Vision of Captivity

12 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, you live in the ^(AO)midst of the ^(AP)rebellious house, who ^(AQ)have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. ³ Now as for you, son of man, prepare for yourself baggage for exile and go into exile by day in their sight; even go into exile from your place to another place in their sight. ^(AR)Perhaps they will see, though they are a rebellious house. ⁴ Bring your baggage out by day in their sight, as baggage for exile. Then you will go out ^(AS)at evening in their sight, as those going into exile. ⁵ In their sight, dig a hole through the wall and ^[l]go out through it. ⁶ In their sight, carry the baggage on your shoulder and bring it out in the dark. You shall ^(AT)cover your face so that you cannot see the land, for I have set you as a ^(AU)wondrous sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷ I ^(AV)did so, as I had been commanded. By day I ^(AW)brought out my baggage like the baggage of an exile. Then in the evening I dug through the wall with my hands; I went out in the dark and carried the baggage on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ And in the morning the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁹ “Son of man, has not the house of Israel, the ^(AX)rebellious house, said to you, ‘^(AY)What are you doing?’ ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “This ^[m](AZ)oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem as well as all the house of Israel who are ^[n]in it.”’ ¹¹ Say, ‘I am ^[o]a ^(BA)wondrous sign to you. As I have done, so it will be done to them; they will ^(BB)go into exile, into captivity.’ ¹² The ^(BC)prince who is among them will carry his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and go out. ^[p]They will dig a hole through the wall to bring it out. He will cover his face so that he cannot see the land with his eyes. ¹³ I will also spread My ^(BD)net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon in the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will ^(BE)not see it, though he will die there. ¹⁴ And I will ^(BF)scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops; and I will draw out a sword after them. ¹⁵ So they will ^(BG)know that I am Yahweh when I scatter them among the nations and spread them among the countries. ¹⁶ But I will ^[q]spare a few of them from ^(BH)sword, famine, and pestilence that they may recount all their abominations among the nations where they go, and ^[r]may ^(BI)know that I am Yahweh.”

¹⁷ Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, ^(BJ)you shall eat your bread with trembling and drink your water with quivering and anxiety. ¹⁹ Then you will say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with desolation because ^[s]their very soil will be ^(BK)made desolate of its fullness on account of the violence of all who inhabit it. ²⁰ The inhabited ^(BL)cities will be laid waste, and the ^(BM)land will be a desolation. So you will know that I am Yahweh.”’”

²¹ Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²² “Son of man, what is this ^(BN)proverb you people have concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The ^(BO)days are long, and every ^(BP)vision fails’? ²³ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will make this proverb cease so that they will no longer use it as a proverb in Israel.” But speak to them, “^(BQ)The days draw near as well as the ^[t]fulfillment of every vision. ²⁴ For there will no longer be any ^(BR)worthless vision or flattering divination in the midst of the house of Israel. ²⁵ For I, Yahweh, will speak, and whatever ^(BS)word I speak will be done. It will no longer be delayed, for in ^(BT)your days, O ^(BU)rebellious house, I will speak the word and do it,” declares Lord Yahweh.’”

²⁶ Furthermore, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²⁷ “Son of man, behold, the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he beholds is for ^(BV)many ^[u]years from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ ²⁸ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “None of My words will be delayed any longer. Whatever word I speak will be done,”’” declares Lord Yahweh.