Old Testament · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 11

Evil in High Places

1And a spirit^a lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of the house of the LORD which faces eastward; and behold, at the door of the gate twenty-five men^b; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2And he said to me: "Son of man^c, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3who say, 'It is not near—the building of houses; this is the pot, and we are the flesh^d.' 4Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man."

5And the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and he said to me: "Say: Thus says the LORD: Thus you have said, O house of Israel; and the things that come up in your spirit, I know them. 6You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.

7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the flesh, and this is the pot; but you he shall bring forth out of its midst. 8You have feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you, the utterance of the Lord GOD. 9And I will bring you out of its midst, and give you into the hand of strangers, and execute judgments among you. 10By the sword you shall fall; upon the border of Israel I will judge you; and you shall know that I am the LORD.

11This shall not be your pot, and you shall be in its midst as the flesh; upon the border of Israel I will judge you. 12And you shall know that I am the LORD, in whose statutes^e you did not walk, and my judgments^f you did not do, but after the judgments of the nations that are around you, you have done."

A Promise of Restoration

(Jeremiah 32:36–44)

13And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell upon my face and cried out with a loud voice and said: "Ah, Lord GOD! are you making a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

14And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 15"Son of man, your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all the house of Israel, all of it, of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said: 'Get far away from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.'

16Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Although I have removed them far off among the nations, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I have been to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they have come.

17Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the ground^g of Israel.

18And they shall come there, and remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it. 19And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove the heart of stone out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh; 20that they may walk in my statutes^h, and keep my judgments and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21But as for those whose heart goes after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way upon their own head, the utterance of the Lord GOD."

God’s Glory Leaves Jerusalem

22Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels alongside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23And the glory of the LORD went up from over the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east of the city.

24And a spirit lifted me up, and brought me to Chaldea, to the captivity, in the vision, by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25And I spoke to the captivity all the words of the LORD that he had shown me.