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Ezekiel 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Ezekiel 11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 11
Death for the Remnant in Jerusalem. 1 The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of the Lord facing east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men; among them I saw the public officials Jaazaniah, son of Azzur, and Pelatiah, son of Benaiah. 2 The Lord said to me: Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city. 3 They are saying, “No need to build houses! The city is the pot, and we are the meat.”[a](A) 4 Therefore prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy! 5 Then the spirit of the Lord fell upon me and told me to say: Thus says the Lord: This is how you talk, house of Israel. I know the things that come into your mind! 6 You have slain many in this city, filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: The slain whom you piled up in it, that is the meat, the pot is the city. But you I will bring out of it.(B) 8 You fear the sword—that sword I will bring upon you—oracle of the Lord God.(C) 9 I will bring you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you. 10 By the sword you shall fall. At the borders of Israel I will judge you so that you will know that I am the Lord. 11 The city shall not be a pot for you, nor shall you be meat within it. At the borders of Israel I will judge you,(D) 12 so you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you did not follow, whose ordinances you did not keep. Instead, you acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you.
13 While I was prophesying, Pelatiah, the son of Benaiah, dropped dead. I fell down on my face and cried out in a loud voice: “Alas, Lord God! You are finishing off what remains of Israel!”[b](E)
Restoration for the Exiles. 14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 [c]Son of man, the inhabitants of Jerusalem are saying about all your relatives, the other exiles, and all the house of Israel, “They are far away from the Lord. The land is given to us as a possession.”(F) 16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I have indeed sent them far away among the nations, scattered them over the lands, and have been but little sanctuary for them in the lands to which they have gone. 17 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will gather you from the nations and collect you from the lands through which you were scattered, so I can give you the land of Israel.(G) 18 They will enter it and remove all its atrocities and abominations. 19 (H)And I will give them another heart and a new spirit I will put within them. From their bodies I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh, 20 so that they walk according to my statutes, taking care to keep my ordinances. Thus they will be my people, and I will be their God.(I) 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their atrocities and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their heads—oracle of the Lord God.
22 Then the cherubim lifted their wings and the wheels alongside them, with the glory of the God of Israel above them.(J) 23 [d]The glory of the Lord rose up from the middle of the city and came to rest on the mountain east of the city.(K) 24 In a vision, the spirit lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Chaldea, by the spirit of God. The vision I had seen left me,(L) 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.(M)
Footnotes
- 11:3 No need to build houses…meat: this advice is based on the conviction that invincible Jerusalem will protect its citizens from further danger just as a pot shields the meat inside from the fire. The poorer citizens of Jerusalem and the refugees from nearby villages can now appropriate the property abandoned by the city’s wealthier upper class when they were deported (v. 15). The metaphor of the pot and its contents reappears in chap. 24.
- 11:13 In Ezekiel’s vision Pelatiah represents the people left in Jerusalem, “the remnant of Israel.” His sudden death in the vision, but not in reality, is a figure for the judgment described in vv. 8–10 and prompts Ezekiel’s anguished question about the survival of the people left in the land after the deportations in 597.
- 11:15–21 Ezekiel insists that those who remained in Judah are doomed; the exiles, under a new covenant, will constitute a new Israel. Cf. chap. 36; Jer 24:7; 29.
- 11:23 The glory of the Lord departs toward the east, to the exiles in Babylon; it will return once the Temple is rebuilt (43:1–3).
Ezekiel 11
New International Version
Ezekiel 11
New International Version
God’s Sure Judgment on Jerusalem
11 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east. There at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah(A) son of Benaiah, leaders(B) of the people.(C) 2 The Lord said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil(D) and giving wicked advice in this city.(E) 3 They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot,(F) and we are the meat in it.’(G) 4 Therefore prophesy(H) against them; prophesy, son of man.”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me, and he told me to say: “This is what the Lord says: That is what you are saying, you leaders in Israel, but I know what is going through your mind.(I) 6 You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.(J)
7 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot,(K) but I will drive you out of it.(L) 8 You fear the sword,(M) and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign Lord.(N) 9 I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands(O) of foreigners and inflict punishment on you.(P) 10 You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel.(Q) Then you will know that I am the Lord. 11 This city will not be a pot(R) for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. 12 And you will know that I am the Lord,(S) for you have not followed my decrees(T) or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.(U)”
13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah(V) son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?(W)”
The Promise of Israel’s Return
14 The word of the Lord came to me: 15 “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’(X)
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary(Y) for them in the countries where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’(Z)
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images(AA) and detestable idols.(AB) 19 I will give them an undivided heart(AC) and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone(AD) and give them a heart of flesh.(AE) 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.(AF) They will be my people,(AG) and I will be their God.(AH) 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols,(AI) I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.(AJ)”
22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory(AK) of the God of Israel was above them.(AL) 23 The glory(AM) of the Lord went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain(AN) east of it. 24 The Spirit(AO) lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia[a] in the vision(AP) given by the Spirit of God.
Then the vision I had seen went up from me, 25 and I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.(AQ)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 11:24 Or Chaldea
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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