1. The spirit lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Temple of Yahweh, the gate that looks eastwards. There at the entrance to the gate stood twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people.

2. He said to me, 'Son of man, these are the wicked schemers who are spreading their bad advice through this city.

3. They say, "There will be no house-building yet awhile. The city is the cooking pot and we are the meat."

4. So prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man!'

5. The spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, 'Say, "Yahweh says this: I know what you are saying, House of Israel, I know how insolent you are.

6. You have filled this city with more and more of your victims; you have strewn its streets with victims.

7. And so the Lord Yahweh says this: Your victims, whom you have put in it, are the meat, and the city is the cooking pot; but I shall take you out of it.

8. You are afraid of the sword and I shall bring the sword down on you -- declares the Lord Yahweh-

9. and I shall take you out of it and hand you over to foreigners and bring you to justice;

10. you will fall by the sword on the soil of Israel; I shall execute justice on you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.

11. This city will be no cooking pot for you, nor will you be the meat inside; I shall execute justice on you on the soil of Israel;

12. and you will know that I am Yahweh, whose laws you have not obeyed and whose judgements you have not kept; instead, you have adopted the customs of the nations round you." '

13. Now as I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah dropped dead. I fell to the ground and cried out, 'Ah, Lord Yahweh, are you going to annihilate the remnant of Israel?'

14. The word of Yahweh was then addressed to me as follows,

15. 'Son of man, to your brothers one and all, to your kinsfolk and to the whole House of Israel, the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "Keep well away from Yahweh. This country has now been made over to us!"

16. So say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: Yes, I have sent them far away among the nations and I have dispersed them to foreign countries; and for a while I have been a sanctuary for them in the country to which they have gone."

17. So say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: I shall gather you back from the peoples, I shall collect you in from the countries where you have been scattered and give you the land of Israel.

18. When they come back, they will purge it of all its horrors and loathsome practices.

19. I shall give them a single heart and I shall put a new spirit in them; I shall remove the heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh,

20. so that they can keep my laws and respect my judgements and put them into practice. Then they will be my people and I shall be their God.

21. But those whose hearts are set on their horrors and loathsome practices I shall repay for their conduct -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

22. The winged creatures then raised their wings and the wheels moved with them, with the glory of the God of Israel over them, above.

23. And the glory of Yahweh rose from the centre of the city and halted on the mountain to the east of the city.

24. Then the spirit lifted me up and took me, in vision, in the spirit of God, to the exiles in Chaldaea, and the vision which I had seen faded.

25. I then told the exiles everything that Yahweh had shown me.