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The Fall of Jerusalem

11 A wind[a] lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.[b] The Lord[c] said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. They say,[d] ‘The time is not near to build houses;[e] the city[f] is a cooking pot,[g] and we are the meat in it.’ Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”

Then the Spirit of the Lord came[h] upon me and said to me, “Say: ‘This is what the Lord says: This is what you are thinking,[i] O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds.[j] You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped[k] in the midst of the city[l] are the meat, and this city[m] is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it.[n] You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. ‘But I will take you out of the city.[o] And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not[p] be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”

13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I threw myself face down and cried out with a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! You are completely wiping out the remnant of Israel!”[q]

14 Then the Lord’s message came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers,[r] your relatives,[s] and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away[t] from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’

16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little[u] sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’

17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’

18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them;[v] I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies[w] and I will give them tender hearts,[x] 20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.[y] 21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done,[z] says the Sovereign Lord.”

22 Then the cherubim spread[aa] their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped[ab] over the mountain east of it. 24 Then a wind[ac] lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia,[ad] in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.

Then the vision I had seen went up from me. 25 So I told the exiles everything[ae] the Lord had shown me.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 11:1 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
  2. Ezekiel 11:1 sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.
  3. Ezekiel 11:2 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  4. Ezekiel 11:3 tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.
  5. Ezekiel 11:3 sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).
  6. Ezekiel 11:3 tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.
  7. Ezekiel 11:3 sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.
  8. Ezekiel 11:5 tn Heb “fell.”
  9. Ezekiel 11:5 tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).
  10. Ezekiel 11:5 tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”
  11. Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “placed.”
  12. Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “in its midst.”
  13. Ezekiel 11:7 tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.
  14. Ezekiel 11:7 tc Many of the versions have “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).
  15. Ezekiel 11:9 tn Heb “its midst.”
  16. Ezekiel 11:11 tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.
  17. Ezekiel 11:13 tc The LXX reads this statement as a question. Compare this to the question in 9:8. It is possible that the interrogative particle has been omitted by haplography. However, an exclamatory statement as in the MT also makes sense, and the LXX may have simply tried to harmonize this passage with 9:8.
  18. Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT reads “your brothers, your brothers” either for emphasis (D. I. Block, Ezekiel [NICOT], 1:341, n. 1; 346) or as a result of dittography.
  19. Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT reads גְאֻלָּתֶךָ (geʾullatekha, “your redemption-men”), referring to the relatives responsible for deliverance in times of hardship (see Lev 25:25-55). The LXX and Syriac read “your fellow exiles,” assuming an underlying Hebrew text of גָלוּתֶךָ (galutekha) or having read the א (alef) as an internal mater lectionis for holem.
  20. Ezekiel 11:15 tc The MT has an imperative form (“go far!”), but it may be read with different vowels as a perfect verb (“they have gone far”).
  21. Ezekiel 11:16 tn Or “have been partially a sanctuary”; others take this as temporal (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV “a little while”).
  22. Ezekiel 11:19 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew mss along with the LXX and other ancient versions read “within them.”
  23. Ezekiel 11:19 tn Heb “their flesh.”
  24. Ezekiel 11:19 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
  25. Ezekiel 11:20 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
  26. Ezekiel 11:21 tn Heb “their way on their head I have placed.”
  27. Ezekiel 11:22 tn Heb “lifted.”
  28. Ezekiel 11:23 tn Heb “stood.”
  29. Ezekiel 11:24 tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.
  30. Ezekiel 11:24 tn Heb “to Chaldea.”
  31. Ezekiel 11:25 tn Heb “all the words of.”

God’s Sure Judgment on Jerusalem

11 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah(A) son of Benaiah, leaders(B) of the people.(C) The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil(D) and giving wicked advice in this city.(E) They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot,(F) and we are the meat in it.’(G) Therefore prophesy(H) against them; prophesy, son of man.”

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me to say: “This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind.(I) You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.(J)

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot,(K) but I will drive you out of it.(L) You fear the sword,(M) and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord.(N) I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands(O) of foreigners and inflict punishment on you.(P) 10 You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel.(Q) Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be a pot(R) for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. 12 And you will know that I am the Lord,(S) for you have not followed my decrees(T) or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.(U)

13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah(V) son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?(W)

The Promise of Israel’s Return

14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’(X)

16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary(Y) for them in the countries where they have gone.’

17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’(Z)

18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images(AA) and detestable idols.(AB) 19 I will give them an undivided heart(AC) and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone(AD) and give them a heart of flesh.(AE) 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.(AF) They will be my people,(AG) and I will be their God.(AH) 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols,(AI) I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.(AJ)

22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory(AK) of the God of Israel was above them.(AL) 23 The glory(AM) of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain(AN) east of it. 24 The Spirit(AO) lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia[a] in the vision(AP) given by the Spirit of God.

Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.(AQ)

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 11:24 Or Chaldea