1
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 son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.
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The LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.
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They say, ‘Haven’t our houses been recently rebuilt? This city is a pot, and we are the meat in it.’
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Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man.”
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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.
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You have killed many people is this city and filled its streets with the dead.
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“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it.
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You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign LORD.
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I will drive you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners and inflict punishment on you.
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You will fall by the sword, and I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
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This city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat in it; I will execute judgment on you at the borders of Israel.
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And you will know that I am the LORD, for you have not followed my decrees or kept my laws but have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”
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Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah 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?”
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The word of the LORD came to me:
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“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.’
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“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 for them in the countries where they have gone.’
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“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.’
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“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.
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I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
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Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
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But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
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Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
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The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.
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The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen went up from me,
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and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.
