Ezekiel 11:1-10

The Fall of Jerusalem

11:1 A wind ¹  lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple that faces the east. There, at the entrance of the gate, I noticed twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, officials of the people. ²  11:2 The Lord ³  said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked advice in this city. 11:3 They say, ⁴  ‘The time is not near to build houses; ⁵  the city ⁶  is a cooking pot ⁷  and we are the meat in it.’ 11:4 Therefore, prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”

11:5 Then the Spirit of the Lord came ⁸  upon me and said to me, “Say: This is what the Lord says: ‘This is what you are thinking, ⁹  O house of Israel; I know what goes through your minds. ¹⁰  11:6 You have killed many people in this city; you have filled its streets with corpses.’ 11:7 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says: ‘The corpses you have dumped ¹¹  in the midst of the city ¹²  are the meat, and this city ¹³  is the cooking pot, but I will take you out of it. ¹⁴  11:8 You fear the sword, so the sword I will bring against you,’ declares the sovereign Lord. 11:9 ‘But I will take you out of the city. ¹⁵  And I will hand you over to foreigners. I will execute judgments on you. 11:10 You will die by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

[11:1]  ¹ tn Or “spirit.” See note on “wind” in 2:2.

[11:1]  ² sn The phrase officials of the people occurs in Neh 11:1; 1 Chr 21:2; 2 Chr 24:23.

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:3]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb may mean “think” in this context. This content of what they say (or think) represents their point of view.

[11:3]  ⁵ sn The expression build houses may mean “establish families” (Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; Prov 24:27).

[11:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “she” or “it”; the feminine pronoun refers here to Jerusalem.

[11:3]  ⁷ sn Jerusalem is also compared to a pot in Ezek 24:3-8. The siege of the city is pictured as heating up the pot.

[11:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “fell.”

[11:5]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew verb commonly means “to say,” but may also mean “to think” (see also v. 3).

[11:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “I know the steps of your spirits.”

[11:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “placed.”

[11:7]  ¹² tn Heb “in its midst.”

[11:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.

[11:7]  ¹⁴ tc Many of the versions read “I will bring you out” (active) rather than “he brought out” (the reading of MT).

[11:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “its midst.”