Wicked Counsel in the City
11 1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the house of our Father, the gate that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men, and among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. 2 And he said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city, 3 who say, 'Isn't it nearly time to build houses? This city is the pot, and we are the meat.' 4 Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man."
5 Then the Spirit of our Father fell upon me, and he told me to say: "This is what our Father says: That is what you are saying, house of Israel; I know the things that rise up in your mind. 6 You have slain many in this city and filled its streets with the dead.
7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Father says: Those you have slain and left in the city—they are the meat, and the city is the pot; but you—you will be driven out of it. 8 You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Sovereign Father. 9 I will bring you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners, and I will carry out judgments against you. 10 You will fall by the sword. At the border of Israel I will judge you, and you will know that I am your Father. 11 This city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat within it. At the border of Israel I will judge you, 12 and you will know that I am your Father—you who have not walked in my statutes nor kept my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations around you."
The Father Promises a New Heart
13 Now while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell facedown and cried out with a loud voice, "Oh, Sovereign Father! Will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel?"
14 Then the word of our Father came to me:
15 "Son of man, your own brothers—your brothers, your blood relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of them—are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Stay far from our Father; this land has been given to us as a possession.'
16 Therefore say, 'This is what the Sovereign Father says: Though I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone.'
17 Therefore say, 'This is what the Sovereign Father says: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.'
18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may follow my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they will be my children, and I will be their Father. 21 But as for those whose hearts chase after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their conduct down on their own heads, declares the Sovereign Father."
The Father's Glory Departs Jerusalem
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them, and the glory of the Father of Israel was above them. 23 And the glory of our Father went up from within the city and stood on the mountain that is east of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in the vision, by the Spirit of our Father, to the exiles in Chaldea. Then the vision I had seen lifted from me. 1 1 v24 Chaldea was the ancient name for Babylon, in present-day Iraq. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that our Father had shown me.