Ezekiel, 11

1. The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Temple of Yahweh, the gate that looks eastwards. There at the entrance to the gate stood twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

1. Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD'S house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.

2. He said to me, 'Son of man, these are the wicked schemers who are spreading their bad advice through this city.

2. Then said he unto me, Son of man, these [are] the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city:

3. They say, "There will be no house-building yet awhile. The city is the cooking pot and we are the meat."

3. Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses: this [city is] the caldron, and we [be] the flesh.

4. So prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!'

4. Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man.

5. The spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, 'Say, "Yahweh says this: I know what you are saying, House of Israel, I know how insolent you are.

5. And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, [every one of] them.

6. You have filled this city with more and more of your victims; you have strewn its streets with victims.

6. Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

7. And so the Lord Yahweh says this: Your victims, whom you have put in it, are the meat, and the city is the cooking pot; but I shall take you out of it.

7. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they [are] the flesh, and this [city is] the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it.

8. You are afraid of the sword and I shall bring the sword down on you -- declares the Lord Yahweh-

8. Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD.

9. and I shall take you out of it and hand you over to foreigners and bring you to justice;

9. And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you.

10. you will fall by the sword on the soil of Israel; I shall execute justice on you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.

10. Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.

11. This city will be no cooking pot for you, nor will you be the meat inside; I shall execute justice on you on the soil of Israel;

11. This [city] shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; [but] I will judge you in the border of Israel:

12. and you will know that I am Yahweh, whose laws you have not obeyed and whose judgements you have not kept; instead, you have adopted the customs of the nations round you." '

12. And ye shall know that I [am] the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that [are] round about you.

13. Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I fell to the ground and cried out, 'Ah, Lord Yahweh, are you going to annihilate the remnant of Israel?'

13. And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14. The word of Yahweh was then addressed to me as follows,

14. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

15. 'Son of man, to your brothers one and all, to your kinsfolk and to the whole House of Israel, the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "Keep well away from Yahweh. This country has now been made over to us!"

15. Son of man, thy brethren, [even] thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, [are] they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession.

16. So say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: Yes, I have sent them far away among the nations and I have dispersed them to foreign countries; and for a while I have been a sanctuary for them in the country to which they have gone."

16. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come.

17. So say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: I shall gather you back from the peoples, I shall collect you in from the countries where you have been scattered and give you the land of Israel.

17. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

18. When they come back, they will purge it of all its horrors and loathsome practices.

18. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.

19. I shall give them a single heart and I shall put a new spirit in them; I shall remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh,

19. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

20. so that they can keep my laws and respect my judgements and put them into practice. Then they will be my people and I shall be their God.

20. That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

21. But those whose hearts are set on their horrors and loathsome practices I shall repay for their conduct -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

21. But [as for them] whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD.

22. The winged creatures then raised their wings and the wheels moved with them, with the glory of the God of Israel over them, above.

22. Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel [was] over them above.

23. And the glory of Yahweh rose from the centre of the city and halted on the mountain to the east of the city.

23. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which [is] on the east side of the city.

24. Then the spirit lifted me up and took me, in vision, in the spirit of God, to the exiles in Chaldaea, and the vision which I had seen faded.

24. Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me.

25. I then told the exiles everything that Yahweh had shown me.

25. Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.