1 Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the princes of the people. |
2 Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: |
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. |
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. |
5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. |
6 Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. |
7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. |
8 Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. |
9 And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. |
10 Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. |
11 This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: |
12 And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. |
13 And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? |
14 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
15 Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession. |
16 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. |
17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. |
18 And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. |
19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: |
20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. |
21 But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD. |
22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. |
23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. |
24 Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. |
25 Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me. |
11 God's message of wrath to those who remained secure at Jerusalem, Eze 11:1-13.
A message of comfort to the dejected captives at Babylon, Eze 11:14-21.
The glory of God removes farther, Eze 11:22-23.
The vision disappears, of which Ezekiel gives an account, Eze 11:24-25.
11:1 Jaazaniah - Not him that is mentioned chap.Eze 8:11.Pelatiah - Named here for that dreadful sudden death, whereby he became a warning to others.
11:2 He - The Lord sitting on the cherub.
11:3 It - The threatened danger and ruin by the Chaldeans.The caldron - This is an impious scoff, yet mixt with some fear of the prophet, Jer 1:13.
11:6 Ye - Many murders have you committed yourselves, and you are accountable to God for all those whom the Chaldeans have slain, seeing you persuaded them, thus obstinately to stand out.
11:7 Bring you forth - Not in mercy, but in wrath, by the conquering hand of Babylon.
11:9 Deliver you - Defeating all your projects for escape.
11:10 Will judge - My just judgments shall pursue you, whithersoever you fly.
11:11 Your caldron - The place of your sufferings; greater are reserved for you in a strange land. Judge you - I will do more against you at Riblah, where the captive king had his children, and others with them, first murdered before his eyes, and then his own eyes put out; Riblah is called the border of Israel: for Syria was adjoining to Israel on the north, and Riblah was on the frontiers of Syria.
11:13 Pelatiah - Mentioned ver. Eze 11:1, a principal man among the twenty - five princes, who made all the mischief in Jerusalem.It should seem this was done in vision now, (as the slaying of the ancient men, chap.Eze 9:6,) but it was an assurance, that when this prophecy was published, it would be done in fact. And the death of Pelatiah was an earnest of the compleat accomplishment of the prophecy.A full end - By slaying all, as this man is cut off.
11:15 Thy brethren - Thy nearest kindred, which it seems were left in Jerusalem. Their degeneracy is more noted in the repetition of the word brethren. Gone far - Ye are gone far from the Lord; as much as the Heathens accused the Christians of atheism.
11:16 Say - In vindication of them. Although - The obstinate Jews at Jerusalem will call them apostates; but I the Lord sent them thither, and will own them there. Scattered - Dispersed them in many countries which are under the king of Babylon: yet they are dear to me.A little sanctuary - A little one in opposition to that great temple at Jerusalem. To him they shall flee, and in him they shall be safe, as he was that took hold on the horns of the altar. And they shall have such communion with God in the land of their captivity, as it was thought could be had no where but in the temple.
11:18 They - They who assemble upon Cyrus's proclamation first, and then upon Darius's proclamation, shall overcome all difficulties, dispatch the journey, and come safely to their own land. Take away - They shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple.
11:19 One heart - Cyrus shall give them leave, and I will give them a heart to return; and on their way shall there be great utility; and, when come to Jerusalem, they shall own me, and my laws, and with one consent, build Jerusalem and the temple, and restore true religion.The stony - That hard, inflexible, undutiful, incorrigible disposition.
11:21 Heart - Soul and affections. Walketh - Either secretly adhere to, or provide for the service of idols, called here detestable things.
11:23 Went up - The glory of the Lord removes now out of the city, over which it had stood some time, waiting for their repentance.The mountain - Mount Olivet. He removed thither, to be as it were within call, and ready to return, if now at length in this their day, they would have understood the things that made for their peace.
11:24 The spirit - The same spirit which carried him to Jerusalem, now brings him back to Chaldea. Went up - Was at an end.