Ezekiel 11:1-12

Context

The Fall of Jerusalem

11:1 A wind¹ 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 Lord³ 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 city⁶ is a cooking pot⁷ 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 came⁸ 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 dumped¹¹ in the midst of the city¹² are the meat, and this city¹³ 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. 11:11 This city will not be a cooking pot for you, and you will not¹⁶ be meat within it; I will judge you at the border of Israel. 11:12 Then you will know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed and whose regulations you have not carried out. Instead you have behaved according to the regulations of the nations around you!’”

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

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

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

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

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

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

[11:3] ⁷sn 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] ⁸tn Heb “fell.”

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

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

[11:7] ¹¹tn Heb “placed.”

[11:7] ¹²tn Heb “in its midst.”

[11:7] ¹³tn Heb “she/it.” See v. 3.

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

[11:9] ¹⁵tn Heb “its midst.”

[11:11] ¹⁶tn The Hebrew text does not have the negative particle, but it is implied. The negative particle in the previous line does double duty here.