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Judgment on Evil Counselors

¹ Moreover, the ^(C1)Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of Yahweh which faced eastward. And behold, at the entrance of the gate, there were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and ^(C2)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people.² He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise wickedness and ^(C1)give evil counsel in this city,³ who say, 'The time is not near to build houses. ^(F1)This ^(C1)city is the pot, and we are the flesh.'⁴ "Therefore, ^(C1)prophesy against them, son of man, prophesy!"

⁵ Then the Spirit of Yahweh fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says Yahweh, "So you say, house of Israel, for ^(C1)I know what comes up in your ^(C2)spirit.⁶ "You have ^(C1)multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with ^(F1)them."⁷ 'Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, "Your ^(C1)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^(F1)the city are the flesh, and this city is the pot; but ^(F2)I will ^(C2)bring you out of it.⁸ "You have ^(C1)feared a sword; so a sword I will ^(C2)bring upon you," Lord Yahweh declares.⁹ "And I will bring you out of the midst of ^(F1)the city and give you into the hands of ^(C1)strangers and ^(C2)execute judgments against you.¹⁰ "You will ^(C1)fall by the sword. I will judge you to the ^(C2)border of Israel; so you shall know that I am Yahweh.¹¹ "This city will ^(C1)not 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 Yahweh; for you have not walked in My statutes, nor have you ^(C1)executed My judgments, but have executed according to the judgments of the ^(C2)nations around you."'"

¹³ Now it happened as I prophesied, that ^(C1)Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, "^(C2)Alas, Lord Yahweh! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to complete destruction?"

Yahweh Will Gather the Exiles

¹⁴ Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,¹⁵ "Son of man, your brothers, your ^(F1)relatives, ^(F2)your fellow exiles, and the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far from Yahweh; this land has been given to ^(C1)us as a possession.'¹⁶ "Therefore say, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Though I had removed them far away among the nations, and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a ^(C1)sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone."'¹⁷ "Therefore say, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "I will ^(C1)gather 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 ^(C1)remove all its ^(C2)detestable things and all its abominations from it.¹⁹ "And I will ^(C1)give them one heart and give within ^(F1)them a new spirit. And I will take the ^(C2)heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a ^(C3)heart of flesh,²⁰ that they may ^(C1)walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. Then they will be ^(C2)My people, and I shall be their God.²¹ "^(F1)But as for those whose hearts walk after their ^(C1)detestable things and abominations, I will ^(C2)give what is due for their way on their heads," declares Lord Yahweh.

The Glory of Yahweh Leaves Jerusalem

²² Then the cherubim ^(C1)lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and ^(C2)the glory of the God of Israel ^(F1)hovered over them.²³ The ^(C1)glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city and ^(C2)stood over the mountain which is east of the city.²⁴ Now the ^(C1)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in ^(F1)Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^(C2)went up and away from me.²⁵ Then I ^(C1)told the exiles all the things that Yahweh had shown me.