Evil in High Places
Lifted by the Spirit to the east gate of the LORD's house, Ezekiel sees twenty-five men, among them Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, leaders of the people. The LORD identifies them as men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in Jerusalem. Their slogan is one of false security: the time is favorable for building houses, and the city is a cooking pot that will safely contain them as its meat.
T1hen the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the LORD that faces east. And there at the entrance of the gate were twenty-five men. Among them I saw Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders of the people. 2And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city. 3They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’ 4Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man!”
The Spirit of the LORD falls upon Ezekiel and tells him to prophesy that God knows the leaders' hidden thoughts. He charges them with multiplying the slain and filling Jerusalem's streets with the dead. Reversing their own metaphor, the LORD says that the slain are the true meat and the city the pot, but these leaders themselves will be dragged out of it and confronted by the sword they fear.
5And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me and told me to declare that this is what the LORD says: “That is what you are thinking, O house of Israel; and I know the thoughts that arise in your minds. 6You have multiplied those you killed in this city and filled its streets with the dead. 7Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: The slain you have laid within this city are the meat, and the city is the pot; but I will remove you from it. 8You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.
The LORD promises to hand these leaders over to foreigners and judge them at the borders of Israel, so that the city will not serve as their protective vessel. There they will know that He is the LORD, because they have neither followed His statutes nor kept His ordinances. Instead, they have conformed themselves to the practices of the surrounding nations.
9I will bring you out of the city and deliver you into the hands of foreigners, and I will execute judgments against you. 10You will fall by the sword, and I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 11The city will not be a pot for you, nor will you be the meat within it. I will judge you even to the borders of Israel. 12Then you will know that I am the LORD. For you have neither followed My statutes nor practiced My ordinances, but you have conformed to the ordinances of the nations around you.”