16. “So tell them this: The Lord GOD says, ‘It is true, I forced my people to go far away to other nations. I did scatter them among many countries. But I will be their temple for a short time while they are in those other countries.
17. But you must tell those people that the Lord GOD will bring them back. I have scattered you among many nations, but I will gather you together and bring you back from those nations. I will give the land of Israel back to you.
18. When my people come back, they will destroy all the terrible, filthy idols that are here now.
19. I will bring them together and make them like one person. I will put a new spirit in them. I will take away that heart of stone, and I will put a real heart in its place.
20. Then they will obey my laws and my commands. They will do the things I tell them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.’”
21. Then God said, “But now, their hearts belong to those terrible, filthy idols, and I must punish those people for the bad things they have done.” This is what the Lord GOD said.
22. Then the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air. The wheels went with them. The Glory of the God of Israel was above them.
23. The Glory of the Lord rose into the air and left the city and stopped on the hill east of Jerusalem.
24. Then the Spirit lifted me into the air and brought me back to Babylonia. It brought me back to the people who were forced to leave Israel. I saw all this in the vision from God. Then the one I saw in the vision rose into the air and left me.
25. Then I spoke to the people in exile. I told them about everything the Lord showed me.