Evil Rulers to Be Judged

¹Moreover, the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s house which faced eastward. And behold, there were twenty-five men at the entrance of the gate, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. ² He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give evil advice in this city, ³ who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ^[a]This city is the pot and we are the flesh.’ ⁴ Therefore, prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

⁵ Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “So you think, house of Israel, for I know ^[b]your thoughts. ⁶ You have multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ^[c]them.” ⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord ^[d]God, “Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^[e]the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ^[f]I will bring you out of it. ⁸ You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,” the Lord God declares. ⁹ “And I will bring you out of the midst of ^[g]the city and deliver you into the hands of strangers and execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will 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 the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.”’”

¹³ Now it came about as I prophesied, that Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “Alas, Lord God! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁵ “Son of man, your brothers, your ^[h]relatives, ^[i]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 the Lord; this land has been given us as a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I will 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 remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. ¹⁹ And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within ^[j]them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. ^21 [k]But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God.

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel ^[l]hovered over them. ²³ The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. ²⁴ And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ^[m]in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^[n]left me. ²⁵ Then I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.