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Evil Rulers to Be Judged

¹ Moreover, the ^(C1)Spirit 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 ^(C2)Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.² He said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and ^(C1)give evil advice 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 the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, "Say, 'Thus says the LORD, "So you think, house of Israel, for ^(C1)I know ^(F1)your ^(C2)thoughts.⁶ "You have ^(C1)multiplied your slain in this city, filling its streets with ^(F1)them."⁷ 'Therefore, thus says the Lord ^(F1)GOD, "Your ^(C1)slain whom you have laid in the midst of ^(F2)the city are the flesh and this city is the pot; but ^(F3)I will ^(C2)bring you out of it.⁸ "You have ^(C1)feared a sword; so I will ^(C2)bring a sword upon you," the Lord GOD declares.⁹ "And I will bring you out of the midst of ^(F1)the city and deliver 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 the LORD.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 the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you ^(C1)executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the ^(C2)nations around you."'"

¹³ Now it came about 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 GOD! Will You bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?"

Promise of Restoration

¹⁴ Then the word of the LORD 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 the LORD; this land has been given ^(C1)us 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 ^(C1)sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone."'¹⁷ "Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "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 put a new spirit within ^(F1)them. 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 ordinances and do them. Then they will be ^(C2)My people, and I shall be their God.²¹ "^(F1)But as for those whose hearts go after their ^(C1)detestable things and abominations, I will ^(C2)bring their conduct down on their heads," declares the Lord GOD.

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 the LORD went up from the midst of the city and ^(C2)stood over the mountain which is east of the city.²⁴ And the ^(C1)Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles ^(F1)in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen ^(F2)(C2)left me.²⁵ Then I ^(C1)told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.