Ezekiel hears news about Jerusalem
21 This is what happened 12 years after we had come to Babylon as prisoners. It was on the 5th day of the 10th month of that year. A man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me in Babylon. He said, ‘Enemies have taken Jerusalem for themselves.’ 22 Before that man arrived, the Lord had taken hold of me in the night. He had opened my mouth so that I was able to speak again.
23 Then the Lord gave this message to me:
24 ‘Son of man, there are people who continue to live in the places in Israel that have become heaps of stones. Those Israelites are saying, “Abraham was only one man, but God gave him the whole land of Israel. We are many people. So we can be sure that the land now belongs to us.”
25 Because they say that, you must tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You eat meat which still has blood in it. You worship your idols. You also murder people. So you do not deserve to have the land for yourselves. 26 You use violence to get the things that you want. You do disgusting things. You have sex with other men's wives. So you should certainly not have the land!”
27 Say to them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I promise you this, as surely as I live. Soldiers will kill the people who live among the heaps of stones. I will cause wild animals to eat the people who live in the fields. Diseases will kill the people who hide in strong buildings and in caves. 28 I will make the land become empty, like a desert. You will no longer be proud of your power. Israel's mountains will become empty places that nobody travels through. 29 I will cause the land to become heaps of stones where nobody lives. I will do that to punish the people for the disgusting things that they have done. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
30 Son of man, the Israelites who are here with you in Babylon are talking about you. They meet together near the walls of the city and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.”
31 They are my people and they come as a crowd to listen to you. They sit and they listen to your words. But they do not obey what you say. They say that they love me. But really they like to cheat people to get things for themselves. 32 They like to hear your voice. For them, you are like someone who sings beautiful songs about love. They listen to your words but they do not obey them.
33 All these things that I have said will certainly happen. When my people see them happen, they will know that a prophet has lived among them.’
