14. The Lord spoke his word to me. He said,
15. “Human being, the people still in Jerusalem have spoken about your relatives. And they have spoken about all the people of Israel who are captives with you. The people still in Jerusalem have said, ‘They are far from the Lord. This land was given to us as our property.’
16. “So say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: I sent the people far away among the nations. I scattered them among the countries. But for a little while I have become a Temple to them in the countries where they have gone.’
17. “So say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I will gather you from the nations. And I will bring you together from the countries where you have been scattered. Then I will give you back the land of Israel.’
18. “They will come to this land. Then they will take away all the hated idols from the land. They will take all the terrible images from there.
19. I will give them a desire to respect me completely. I will put a new way to think inside them. I will take out the stubborn heart like stone from their bodies. Then I will give them an obedient heart of flesh.
20. Then they will live by my rules. They will obey my laws and keep them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
21. But some people will want to serve their evil statues and hated idols. And I will pay them back for their evil ways, says the Lord God.”
22. Then the living creatures lifted their wings. The wheels went beside them. And the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
23. The glory of the Lord went up from inside Jerusalem. And it stopped on the mountain on the east side of the city.
24. The Spirit lifted me up. And he brought me to the captives who had been taken from Judah to Babylonia. He did this in a vision given by the Spirit of God. Then the vision I had seen ended.
25. And I told the things that the Lord had shown me. I told it to the captives from Judah.