11:1 Now 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.
11:2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and give evil advice in this city,
11:3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ①This city is the pot and we are the meat.’
▷ ①Or This is
11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”
11:5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘This is what the LORD says: “This is how you think, house of Israel, for I know ①your thoughts.
▷ ①Lit what comes up in your spirit
11:6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and filled its streets with ①them.”
▷ ①Lit the slain
11:7 Therefore, this is what the Lord ①GOD says: “Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of ②the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but ③I will bring you out of it.
▷ ①Heb YHWH, usually rendered LORD, and so throughout the ch ②Lit it ③As in LXX; MT he will bring you out
11:8 You have feared a sword; so I will bring a sword upon you,” the Lord GOD declares.
11:9 “And I will bring you out of the midst of ①the city, and hand you over to strangers, and execute judgments against you.
▷ ①Lit it
11:10 You will fall by the sword. I will judge you to the border of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD.
11:11 This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel.
11:12 So you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you executed My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the nations around you.” ’ ”
11:13 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, “Oh, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”
11:14 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
11:15 “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, ①your fellow exiles, and the entire house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Keep far from the LORD; this land has been given to us as a possession.’
▷ ①As in LXX and some ancient versions; MT the men of your redemption
11:16 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “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 for a little while in the countries where they had gone.” ’
11:17 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’
11:18 When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.
11:19 And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within ①them. And I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
▷ ①As in LXX and many mss; MT you
11:20 so 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.
11:21 ①But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I will ②bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.
▷ ①Lit And to the heart of their detestable things and their abominations their heart goes ②Lit give...conduct on
11:22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel ①hovered over them.
▷ ①Lit over them from above
11:23 The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.
11:24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to ①Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen ②left me.
▷ ①I.e., Babylonia ②Lit went up from
11:25 And I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.