| 1 | Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the Lord`s house, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. |
| 2 | And He said to me: "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, |
| 3 | who say, `The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.` |
| 4 | Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!" |
| 5 | Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, "Speak! `Thus says the Lord: "Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. |
| 6 | You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain." |
| 7 | Therefore thus says the Lord God: "Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it. |
| 8 | You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you," says the Lord God. |
| 9 | "And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you. |
| 10 | You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. |
| 11 | This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. |
| 12 | And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you." ` " |
| 13 | Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?" |
| 14 | Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, |
| 15 | "Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, `Get far away from the Lord; this land has been given to us as a possession.` |
| 16 | Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord God: "Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone." ` |
| 17 | Therefore say, `Thus says the Lord God: "I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel." ` |
| 18 | And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. |
| 19 | Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, |
| 20 | that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. |
| 21 | But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord God. |
| 22 | So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was high above them. |
| 23 | And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the east side of the city. |
| 24 | Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. |
| 25 | So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the Lord had shown me. |