Ezekiel 11:5

5 Then the Spirit of God came upon me and told me what to say: "This is what God says: 'That's a fine public speech, Israel, but I know what you are thinking.

Ezekiel 11:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 11:5

And the spirit of the Lord fell upon me
In an extraordinary manner, and afresh, and enlightened his mind, and showed him things that should come to pass; and filled him with boldness and courage to declare them. The Targum interprets it of the spirit of prophecy: and said unto me, speak;
what I shall show and put into thy mouth, that speak out; be not afraid, but boldly declare all that I give thee in commission to say: thus saith the Lord, thus have ye said, O house of Israel;
as in ( Ezekiel 11:3 ) ; which perhaps was said in secret, and spoken privately, but known by the Lord; and it was not only the princes that said it, but the whole body of the people joined in with it, and agreed to it; though it is very probable they were influenced by the former: for I know the things that come into your mind, [everyone of] them;
not only their scoffing words, but the thoughts of their hearts; not one of them escaped the knowledge of God; the consideration of which should command an awe on men, and engage them to a watchfulness over their thoughts, words, and actions.

Ezekiel 11:5 In-Context

3 They say, 'We can make anything happen here. We're the best. We're the choice pieces of meat in the soup pot.'
4 "Oppose them, son of man. Preach against them."
5 Then the Spirit of God came upon me and told me what to say: "This is what God says: 'That's a fine public speech, Israel, but I know what you are thinking.
6 You've murdered a lot of people in this city. The streets are piled high with corpses.'
7 "Therefore this is what God, the Master, says: 'The corpses that you've piled in the streets are the meat and this city is the soup pot, and you're not even in the pot! I'm throwing you out!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.