Ezekiel 11:8-18

8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword upon you, says the Lord God.
9 I will take you out of it and give you over to the hands of foreigners, and execute judgments upon you.
10 You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you at the border of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord.
11 This city shall not be your pot, and you shall not be the meat inside it; I will judge you at the border of Israel.
12 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, whose statutes you have not followed, and whose ordinances you have not kept, but you have acted according to the ordinances of the nations that are around you."
13 Now, while I was prophesying, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face, cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah Lord God! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"
14 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
15 Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, "They have gone far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession."
16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone.
17 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.
18 When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.

Ezekiel 11:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 11

This chapter contains an account of the sins of the princes of Judah; a prophecy of their destruction; some comfortable, promises respecting those of the captivity; and the chapter is closed with the finishing of the vision of the Lord's removing from Jerusalem; and the whole being ended, the prophet related it to the men of the captivity. In Eze 11:1; the prophet, is shown five and twenty men, among whom were two he knew, and are mentioned by name, and were princes of the people; and he is told that these men devised mischief, and gave bad advice to the people, Eze 11:2,3; wherefore he is bid to prophesy against them, Eze 11:4; which he accordingly did, the Spirit of the Lord falling upon him, Eze 11:5; declaring that their secret evils were known, as well as their public ones; and that, seeing they had multiplied their slain, and had feared the sword, the sword should come upon them; some should fall by it, and others should be carried captive; the consequence of which would be, that God would be known, and his justice acknowledged, it being what their sins deserved, Eze 11:6-12; upon this prophecy being delivered out, one of the princes before named died immediately; which filled the prophet with great concern, and put him upon expostulating with God, Eze 11:13; wherefore, for his comfort, he is told, that though the inhabitants of Jerusalem had insulted their brethren that were carried captive, and looked upon the land of Israel as their own possession, that God would be a little sanctuary to them; that he would gather them out of all lands, and give them the land of Israel; that they should come thither, and remove all idolatry from it, and should have regenerating and renewing grace given them, to walk in the statutes and ordinances of the Lord, by which they should appear to be his people, and he to be their God, Eze 11:14-20; but as for such that continued in their abominable idolatries, these should receive a just recompence of reward, Eze 11:21; after which follows an account of the entire removal of the glory of the Lord from the city of Jerusalem, Eze 11:22,23; and the prophet being, in vision, brought again to Chaldea, reports the whole he had seen to them of the captivity, Eze 11:24,25.

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Gk Syr: Heb [people of your kindred]
  • [b]. Or [to some extent]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.