Ezekiel 11:1-25

God’s Spirit swept me off my feet and transported me to the eastern gate of the temple of YAHWEH. And behold, there at the entrance to the gate facing east stood twenty-five men, including the two officials Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah. Then YAHWEH said to me, “Son of man, these men are making evil plans to spread their wicked counsel throughout this city. They say, ‘Isn’t it time to start building houses again? Jerusalem is like an iron storage pot, and we are like meat, stored safely away.’ Therefore, prophesy against them. Prophesy, son of man!” Then the Spirit of YAHWEH fell on me, and said to me, “Tell the people: ‘I, YAHWEH, say to the people of Israel, I know what you think, your every secret thought. You have murdered so many people in this city that its streets are filled with corpses. Therefore, Lord YAHWEH says this: Yes, this city is the pot, and the corpses you have thrown into the streets, they are the meat! But I will drive you out of the city. Are you afraid of the sword? Then I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord YAHWEH. And I will bring you to justice and will drive you out of Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners! I will judge you at the border of Israel and you will fall by the sword. Then you will know that I am YAHWEH. For this city will not be your safe storage pot, nor will you be the meat inside. I will execute justice on you on the border of Israel. And then you will know that I am YAHWEH, whose laws and commands you have disobeyed. Instead, you have embraced the customs of the neighboring nations.’ ” While I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I threw myself facedown to the ground and cried out, “Oh no, Lord YAHWEH, are you going to annihilate the remnant left in Israel?” YAHWEH spoke to me, saying: “Son of man, the people living in Jerusalem are talking about you, your close relatives, and all the people of Israel. They are saying that the people in exile are away from YAHWEH. ‘This country was given to us as our possession!’ Now give this message to your fellow exiles: ‘The Lord YAHWEH says to you: Although I have sent you far away among the nations and I have scattered you to foreign countries, yet I have been your sanctuary for the time being wherever you have gone.’ And tell them, ‘The Lord YAHWEH says this: I will gather you back from the peoples, and draw you together from the countries where you have been scattered and give you the land of Israel. When you return, you will purge the land of all its filthy idols and detestable practices. I will give you a new, undivided heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stubborn heart of stone and give you a tender heart that responds to me—a devoted heart. Therefore, you will keep my laws and faithfully obey my commands. Then you will truly be the people of my heart, and I will be the God you worship. But I will punish those whose hearts are devoted to their filthy idols and detestable practices. I will repay them for their conduct, declares Lord YAHWEH.’ ” YAHWEH Then the cherubim raised their wings to fly, and the wheels moved in unison with them; above them was the radiant glory of the God of Israel. And the glory of YAHWEH went up from Jerusalem and stood above the mountain to the east of the city. Then, the Spirit snatched me away and transported me back among the exiles in Babylon. This was the vision given to me by the Spirit of God. Then the vision faded away. And I told the exiles everything that YAHWEH had revealed to me.