11:1 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 to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

11:2 The LORD said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who are plotting evil and giving wicked advice in this city.

11:3 They say, 'Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot, and we are the meat.'

11:4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man."

11:5 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say: "This is what the LORD says: That is what you are saying, O house of Israel, but I know what is going through your mind.

11:6 You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead.

11:7 "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.

11:8 You fear the sword, and the sword is what I will bring against you, declares the Sovereign LORD.

11:9 I will drive you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners and inflict punishment on you.

11:10 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.

11:11 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.

11:12 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."

11:13 Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out in a loud voice, "Ah, Sovereign LORD! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?"

11:14 The word of the LORD came to me:

11:15 "Son of man, your brothers--your brothers who are your blood relatives and the whole house of Israel--are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, 'They are far away from the LORD; this land was given to us as our possession.'

11:16 "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 for them in the countries where they have gone.'

11:17 "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.'

11:18 "They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols.

11:19 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.

11:20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

11:21 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."

11:22 Then the cherubim, with the wheels beside them, spread their wings, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.

11:23 The glory of the LORD went up from within the city and stopped above the mountain east of it.

11:24 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,

11:25 and I told the exiles everything the LORD had shown me.