5Thereupon the spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and He said to me, “Speak: Thus said the LORD: Such are your thoughts, O House of Israel; I know what comes into your mind. 6Many have you slain in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses. 7Assuredly, thus says the Lord GOD: The corpses that you have piled up in it are the meat for which it is the pot; but you shall be taken out of it. 8You feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you—declares the Lord GOD. 9I will take you out of it and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and I will execute judgments upon you. 10You shall fall by the sword; I will punish you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD. 11This [city] shall not be a pot for you, nor you the meat in it; I will punish you at the border of Israel. 12Then you shall know that I am the LORD, whose laws you did not follow and whose rules you did not obey, acting instead according to the rules of the nations around you.”
13Now, as I prophesied, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I threw myself upon my face and cried out aloud, “Ah, Lord GOD! You are wiping out the remnant of Israel!”
14Then the word of the LORD came to me: 15“O mortal, [I will save] your brothers, your brothers, the men of your kindred,b all of that very House of Israel to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem say, ‘Keep far from the LORD; the land has been given as a heritage to us.’ 16Say then: Thus said the Lord GOD: I have indeed removed them far among the nations and have scattered them among the countries, and I have become to them a diminished sanctity in the countries whither they have gone. 17Yet say: Thus said the Lord GOD: I will gather youb from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the Land of Israel. 18And they shall return there, and do away with all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19I will give them one heart and put a new spirit in them;c I will remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, 20that they may follow My laws and faithfully observe My rules. Then they shall be My people and I will be their God. 21But as for them whose heart is set upon their detestable things and their abominations, I will repay them for their con-duct—declares the Lord GOD.”
22Then the cherubs, with the wheels beside them, lifted their wings, while the Presence of the God of Israel rested above them. 23The Presence of the LORD ascended from the midst of the city and stood on the hill east of the city. 24A spirit carried me away and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God to the exile community in Chaldea. Then the vision that I had seen left me, 25and I told the exiles all the things that the LORD had shown me.
12 The word of the LORD came to me: 2O mortal, you dwell among the rebellious breed. They have eyes to see but see not, ears to hear but hear not; for they are a rebellious breed. 3Therefore, mortal, get yourself gear for exile, and go into exile by day before their eyes. Go into exile from your home to another place before their very eyes; perhaps they will take note, even though they are a rebellious breed. 4Carry out your gear as gear for exile by day before their very eyes; and go out again in the evening before their eyes, as one who goes out into exile. 5Before their eyes, break through the wall and carry [the gear] out through it; 6before their eyes, carry it on your shoulder. Take it out in the dark, and cover your face that you may not see the land; for I make you a portent to the House of Israel.
7I did just as I was ordered: I took out my gear by day as gear for exile, and in the evening I broke through the wall a-with my own hands.-a In the darkness I carried [the gear] out on my shoulder, carrying it before their eyes.
8In the morning, the word of the LORD came to me: 9O mortal, did not the House of Israel, that rebellious breed, ask you, “What are you doing?” 10Say to them: “Thus said the Lord GOD: This pronouncement concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the House of Israel who are in it.” 11Say: “I am a portent for you: As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall go into exile, into captivity. 12And the prince among them shall carry his gear on his shoulder as he goes out in the dark. Heb shall break through the wall in order to carry [his gear] out through it; he shall cover his face, because he himself shall not see the land with his eyes.” 13I will spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, but he shall not see it;c and there he shall die. 14And all those around him, his helpers and all his troops, I will scatter in every direction; and I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15Then, when I have scattered them among the nations and dispersed them through the countries, they shall know that I am the LORD. 16But I will spare a few of them from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may recount all their abominable deeds among the nations to which they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD!
17The word of the LORD came to me: 18O mortal, eat your bread in trembling and drink your water in fear and anxiety. 19And say to the people of the land: Thus said the Lord GOD concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They shall eat their bread in anxiety and drink their water in desolation, because their land will be desolate of its multitudes on account of the lawlessness of all its inhabitants. 20The inhabited towns shall be laid waste and the land shall become a desolation; then you shall know that I am the LORD.
21The word of the LORD came to me: 22O mortal, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, that you say, “The days grow many and every vision comes to naught?” 23Assuredly, say to them, Thus said the Lord GOD: I will put an end to this proverb; it shall not be used in Israel any more. Speak rather to them: The days draw near, and the fulfillment of every vision. 24For there shall no longer be any false vision or soothing divination in the House of Israel. 25But whenever I the LORD speak what I speak, that word shall be fulfilled without any delay; in your days, O rebellious breed, I will fulfill every word I speak—declares the Lord GOD.
26The word of the LORD came to me: 27See, O mortal, the House of Israel says, “The vision that he sees is far ahead, and he prophesies for the distant future.” 28Assuredly, say to them: Thus said the Lord GOD: There shall be no more delay; whenever I speak a word, that word shall be fulfilled—declares the Lord GOD.
13 The word of the LORD came to me: 2O mortal, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy; say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: Hear the word of the LORD! 3Thus said the Lord GOD: Woe to the degenerate prophets, who follow their own fancy, with-out having had a vision! 4Your prophets, O Israel, have been like jackals among ruins. 5You did not enter the breaches and repair the walls for the House of Israel, that they might stand up in battle in the day of the LORD. 6They prophesied falsehood and lying divination; they said, “De-clares the LORD,” when the LORD did not send them, and then they waited for their word to be fulfilled. 7It was false visions you prophesied and lying divination you uttered, saying, “Declares the LORD,” when I had not spoken.
8Assuredly, thus said the Lord GOD: Because you speak falsehood and prophesy lies, assuredly, I will deal with you—declares the Lord GOD. 9My hand will be against the prophets who prophesy falsehood and utter lying divination. They shall not remain in the assembly of My people, they shall not be inscribed in the lists of the House of Israel, and they shall not come back to the land of Israel. Thus shall you know that I am the Lord GOD.
10Inasmuch as they have misled My people, saying, “It is well,” when nothing is well, daubing with plaster the flimsy wall which a-the peo-ple-a were building, 11say to those daubers of plaster: It shall collapse; a driving rain shall descend—and you, O great hailstones, shall fall—and a hurricane wind shall rend it. 12Then, when the wall collapses, you
