1. A wind lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple. There at the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw that two officials of the people, Jaazaniah, Azzur’s son, and Pelatiah, Benaiah’s son, were with them.
2. He said to me: Human one, these men devise evil plans and give wicked advice in this city.
3. They are the ones who say, "The nearest relatives aren’t building houses. The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat."
4. Therefore, prophesy against them, human one, prophesy!
5. The Lord’s spirit took hold of me, and he said to me: Say, This is what the Lord God proclaims: So you have said, house of Israel! But I know what you really mean.
6. You continue to commit murder in this city, and you fill its streets with the slain.
7. Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: The city is the cooking pot, and the ones you have slain in it are the meat. But you will be taken out of it.
8. You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you. This is what the Lord God says!
9. I will lead you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you.
10. You will fall by the sword! At Israel’s borders I will judge you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
11. The city won’t be your cooking pot, and you won’t be the meat in it. At Israel’s borders, I will judge you.
12. You will know that I am the Lord, whose regulations you didn’t observe and whose case laws you didn’t follow. Instead, you followed the case laws of the nations around you.
13. While I was prophesying, Benaiah’s son Pelatiah dropped dead. I fell on my face, and I wailed and said, "Oh, Lord God! Are you finishing off even the Israelites who are left?"
14. The Lord’s word came to me:
15. Human one, when the people living in Jerusalem said, "They’ve gone far from the Lord, and we’ve been given the land as an inheritance," they were talking about your family, your nearest relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of it.
16. Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: Even though I made them go far away among the nations and caused them to scatter throughout the earth, I’ve provided some sanctuary for them in the countries to which they’ve gone.