Ezekiel confronts leaders who say the city is a cooking pot. Pelatiah dies. God promises to gather the exiles and give them one heart and a new spirit, to take out their heart of stone. The glory of the LORD leaves the city.
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 Then said he unto me, Son of man , these are the men that devise mischief , and give wicked counsel in this city :
3 Which say , It is not near ; let us build houses : this city is the caldron , and we be the flesh .
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy , O son of man .
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 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city , and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain .
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 Ye have feared the sword ; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD .
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 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 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 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 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 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying ,
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 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 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 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence.
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 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 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 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 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 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 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.