Now the ^aSpirit 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 ^bPelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise wrongdoing and ^agive evil advice in this city, 3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ¹This ^acity is the pot and we are the meat.’ 4 Therefore, ^aprophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!”

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 ^aI know ¹your ^bthoughts. 6 You have ^amultiplied your slain in this city, and filled its streets with ¹them.” 7 Therefore, this is what the Lord ¹GOD says: “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ²the city are the meat and this city is the pot; but ³I will ^bbring you out of it. 8 You have ^afeared a sword; so I will ^bbring a sword upon you,” the Lord GOD declares. 9 “And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city, and hand you over to ^astrangers, and ^bexecute judgments against you. 10 You will ^afall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^bborder of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD. 11 This city will ^anot be a pot for you, nor will you be meat in the midst of it; I will judge you to the border of Israel. 12 So you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^aexecuted My ordinances, but you have acted in accordance with the ordinances of the ^bnations around you.”’”

13 Now it came about, as I prophesied, that ^aPelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice, and said, “^bOh, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete destruction?”

14 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 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 ^ato us as a possession.’ 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 ^asanctuary for them for a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “I will ^agather 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.”’ 18 When they come there, they will ^aremove all its ^bdetestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 And I will ^agive them one heart, and put a new spirit within ¹them. And I will remove the ^bheart of stone from their flesh and give them a ^cheart of flesh, 20 so that they may ^awalk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God. 21 ¹But as for those whose hearts go after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^2bbring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.

22 Then the cherubim ^alifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^bthe glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them. 23 The ^aglory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city. 24 And the ^aSpirit 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 ^2bleft me. 25 And I ^atold the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.

Moreover, the ^aSpirit 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 ^bPelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 He said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and ^agive evil advice in this city, 3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses. ¹This ^acity is the pot and we are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore, ^aprophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!”

5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, “Say, ‘Thus says the LORD, “So you think, house of Israel, for ^aI know ¹your ^bthoughts. 6 You have ^amultiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ¹them.” 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord ¹GOD, “Your ^aslain whom you have laid in the midst of ²the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ³I will ^bbring you out of it. 8 You have ^afeared a sword; so I will ^bbring a sword upon you,” the Lord GOD declares. 9 “And I will bring you out of the midst of ¹the city and deliver you into the hands of ^astrangers and ^bexecute judgments against you. 10 You will ^afall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^bborder of Israel; so you shall know that I am the LORD. 11 This city will ^anot be a pot for you, nor will you be flesh in the midst of it, but I will judge you to the border of Israel. 12 Thus you will know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^aexecuted My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^bnations around you.”’”

13 Now it came about as I prophesied, that ^aPelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, “^bAlas, Lord GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?”

14 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your ¹relatives, ²your fellow exiles and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘Go far from the LORD; this land has been given ^aus as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^asanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.”’ 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “I will ^agather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ 18 When they come there, they will ^aremove all its ^bdetestable things and all its abominations from it. 19 And I will ^agive them one heart, and put a new spirit within ¹them. And I will take the ^bheart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^cheart of flesh, 20 that they may ^awalk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^bMy people, and I shall be their God. 21 ¹But as for those whose hearts go after their ^adetestable things and abominations, I will ^bbring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord GOD.

22 Then the cherubim ^alifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^bthe glory of the God of Israel ¹hovered over them. 23 The ^aglory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and ^bstood over the mountain which is east of the city. 24 And the ^aSpirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ¹in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^2bleft me. 25 Then I ^atold the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.