Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. There, at the entrance of the gateway, were twenty-five men; among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.^{(A) 2} He said to me, “Mortal, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city;^{(B) 3} they say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the pot, and we are the meat.’^{(C) 4} Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O mortal.”^(D)

⁵ Then the spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: This is what you think, O house of Israel; I know the things that come into your mind.^{(E) 6} You have killed many in this city and have filled its streets with the slain.^{(F) 7} Therefore thus says the Lord God: The slain whom you have placed within it are the meat, and this city is the pot, but you shall be taken out of it.^{(G) 8} You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God. ⁹ I will take you out of it and give you over to the hands of foreigners and execute judgments upon you.^{(H) 10} You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord.^{(I) 11} This city shall not be your pot, and you shall not be the meat inside it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. ¹² Then you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose ordinances you have not kept, but you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are around you.”^(J)

¹³ Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, cried with a loud voice, and said, “Ah Lord God! You are finishing off the remnant of Israel!”^(K)

God Will Restore Israel

¹⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵ Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles,^[a] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Stay far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.”^{(L) 16} Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while^[b] in the countries where they have gone.^{(M) 17} Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.^{(N) 18} When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.^{(O) 19} I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them;^[c] I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,^{(P) 20} so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.^{(Q) 21} But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations,^[d] I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.^(R)

²² Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.^{(S) 23} And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city and stopped on the mountain east of the city.^{(T) 24} The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. ²⁵ And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

Judah’s Captivity Portrayed

12 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, you are living in the midst of a rebellious house who have eyes to see but do not see, who have ears to hear but do not hear,^{(U) 3} for they are a rebellious house. Therefore, mortal, prepare for yourself an exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight; you shall go like an exile from your place to another place in their sight. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.^{(V) 4} You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself at evening in their sight, as those do who go into exile.^{(W) 5} Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry the baggage through it. ⁶ In their sight you shall lift the baggage on your shoulder and carry it out in the dark; you shall cover your face, so that you may not see the land, for I have made you a sign for the house of Israel.^(X)

⁷ I did just as I was commanded. I brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands; I brought it out in the dark, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

⁸ In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ Mortal, has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, “What are you doing?”^{(Y) 10} Say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns the prince in Jerusalem^[e] and all the house of Israel in it.”^{[f](Z) 11} Say, “I am a sign for you: as I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity.”^{(AA) 12} And the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage on his shoulder in the dark and shall go out; he^[g] shall dig through the wall and carry it through; he shall cover his face so that he may not see the land with his eyes.^{(AB) 13} I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, yet he shall not see it, and he shall die there.^{(AC) 14} I will scatter to every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, and I will unsheathe the sword behind them.^{(AD) 15} And they shall know that I am the Lord when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.^{(AE) 16} But I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, so that they may tell of all their abominations among the nations where they go; then they shall know that I am the Lord.^(AF)

Judgment Not Postponed

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ Mortal, eat your bread with quaking and drink your water with trembling and with fearfulness; ¹⁹ and say to the people of the land: “Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread with fearfulness and drink their water in dismay, because their land shall be stripped of all it contains, on account of the violence of all those who live in it.^{(AG) 20} The inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”^(AH)

²¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ²² Mortal, what is this proverb of yours about the land of Israel that says, “The days are prolonged, and every vision comes to nothing”?^{(AI) 23} Tell them therefore, “Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall use it no more as a proverb in Israel.” But say to them: “The days are near, and the fulfillment of every vision.^{(AJ) 24} For there shall no longer be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel.^{(AK) 25} But I the Lord will speak the word that I speak, and it will be fulfilled. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and fulfill it, says the Lord God.”^(AL)

²⁶ The word of the Lord came to me: ²⁷ Mortal, the house of Israel is saying, “The vision that he sees is for many years ahead; he prophesies for distant times.”^{(AM) 28} Therefore say to them, “Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be fulfilled, says the Lord God.”^(AN)

False Prophets Condemned

13 The word of the Lord came to me: ² Mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are prophesying; say to those who prophesy out of their own imaginations: “Hear the word of the Lord!”^{(AO) 3} Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!^{(AP) 4} Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. ⁵ You have not gone up into the breaches or repaired a wall for the house of Israel, so that it might stand in battle on the day of the Lord.^{(AQ) 6} They have envisioned falsehood and lying divination; they say, “Says the Lord,” when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they wait for the fulfillment of their word!^{(AR) 7} Have you not seen a false vision or uttered a lying divination when you have said, “Says the Lord,” even though I did not speak?

⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have uttered falsehood and envisioned lies, I am against you, says the Lord God. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations; they shall not be in the council of my people nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel, and you shall know that I am the Lord God.^{(AS) 10} Because, in truth, because they have misled my people, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a flimsy wall, these prophets^[h] smear whitewash on it.^{(AT) 11} Say to those who smear whitewash on it that it shall fall. There will be a deluge of rain,^[i] great hailstones will fall, and a stormy wind will break out.^{(AU) 12} When the wall falls, will it not be said to you, “Where is the whitewash you smeared on it?” ¹³ Therefore thus says the Lord God: In my wrath I will make a stormy wind break out, and in my anger there shall be a deluge of rain and hailstones in wrath to destroy it. ¹⁴ I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash and bring it to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare; when the city falls, you shall perish within it, and you shall know that I am the Lord.^{(AV) 15} Thus I will spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, “The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it— ¹⁶ the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for it when there was no peace, says the Lord God.”^(AW)

¹⁷ As for you, mortal, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imaginations; prophesy against them^{(AX) 18} and say: Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew bands on all wrists and make veils for the heads of persons of every height, in the hunt for lives! Will you hunt down lives among my people and maintain your own lives?^{(AY) 19} You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death those who should not die and keeping alive those who should not live, by your lies to my people, who listen to lies.^(AZ)

²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against your bands with which you hunt lives;^[j] I will tear them from your arms and let the lives go free, the lives that you hunt down like birds. ²¹ I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands; they shall no longer be prey in your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ²² Because you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not disheartened them, and you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their wicked way and save their lives,^{(BA) 23} therefore you shall no longer see false visions or practice divination; I will save my people from your hand. Then you will know that I am the Lord.^(BB)