וַתִּשָּׂא אֹתִי רוּחַ וַתָּבֵא אֹתִי אֶל־שַׁעַר בֵּית־ה' הַקַּדְמוֹנִי הַפּוֹנֶה קָדִימָה וְהִנֵּה בְּפֶתַח הַשַּׁעַר עֶשְׂרִים וַחֲמִשָּׁה אִישׁ וָאֶרְאֶה בְתוֹכָם אֶת־יַאֲזַנְיָה בֶן־עַזֻּר וְאֶת־פְּלַטְיָהוּ בֶן־בְּנָיָהוּ שָׂרֵי הָעָם

A wind lifted me and brought me to the eastern gate of the House of the Lord that faces eastward, where the glory of God stood, and behold, at the door of the gate were twenty-five men. I saw in their midst Yaazanya son of Azur, and Pelatyahu son of Benayahu, princes of the people. At the entrance to the eastern gate of the Temple stood a group of influential men, at the head of which stood these two individuals, who were apparently eminent leaders of Israel.

וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָי בֶּן־אָדָם אֵלֶּה הָאֲנָשִׁים הַחֹשְׁבִים אָוֶן וְהַיֹּעֲצִים עֲצַת־רָע בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת

He, the voice (see 10:2), said to me: Son of man, these are the men who design wrongdoing and who devise evil schemes in this city. These distinguished individuals represent the foundations of the city’s evil.

הָאֹמְרִים לֹא בְקָרוֹב בְנוֹת בָּתִּים הִיא הַסִּיר וַאֲנַחְנוּ הַבָּשָׂר

These are the men who say: Perhaps the prophecies concerning the city’s destruction will be fulfilled; we are not belittling their legitimacy or the warnings contained in them. However, it will not be soon, they are not relevant for the near future. Therefore, it is appropriate to build houses in the city. It, the city, is the pot, and we are the meat. The city is fortified and will protect us from the enemy’s fire, as a pot protects the meat inside it. The city is our home, and we will live securely inside it until our deaths.

לָכֵן הִנָּבֵא עֲלֵיהֶם הִנָּבֵא בֶּן־אָדָם

Therefore, prophesy in their regard; prophesy, Son of man.

וַתִּפֹּל עָלַי רוּחַ ה' וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלַי אֱמֹר כֹּה־אָמַר ה' כֵּן אֲמַרְתֶּם בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל ומַעֲלוֹת רוּחֲכֶם אֲנִי יְדַעְתִּיהָ

The spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and He said to me: Say: So said the Lord: So you have said, house of Israel; and not only do I know your statements, but also that which arises in your thoughts I know.

הִרְבֵּיתֶם חַלְלֵיכֶם בָּעִיר הַזֹּאת וּמִלֵּאתֶם חוּצֹתֶיהָ חָלָל

You, the leaders of the city, have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. There were men among you who did not refrain from employing illegitimate means to achieve their goals; they took care to eliminate anyone standing in their way.

לָכֵן כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים חַלְלֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתֶּם בְּתוֹכָהּ הֵמָּה הַבָּשָׂר וְהִיא הַסִּיר וְאֶתְכֶם הוֹצִיא מִתּוֹכָהּ

Therefore, so said the Lord God: Your slain whom you placed within it, they are the meat and it is the pot. Those individuals you murdered will remain in the city as the meat inside the pot. But you, I will remove [hotzi] from within it. The word hotzi, an imperative form, is understood here as otzi, I shall remove you. Alternatively, it is understood as lehotzi, you should be removed.

חֶרֶב יְרֵאתֶם וְחֶרֶב אָבִיא עֲלֵיכֶם נְאֻם ה' אֱלוֹהִים

You feared the sword, and the sword I will bring upon you – the utterance of the Lord God.

וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתּוֹכָהּ וְנָתַתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּיַד־זָרִים וְעָשִׂיתִי בָכֶם שְׁפָטִים

I will take you out from within it, and I will deliver you into the hand of strangers, and I will administer punishments to you.

בַּחֶרֶב תִּפֹּלוּ עַל־גְּבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶשְׁפּוֹט אֶתְכֶם וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה'

By sword you will all fall; on the border of Israel I will judge you, when you are taken out of the city; and then, when you face judgment, you will know that I am the Lord.

הִיא לֹא־תִהְיֶה לָכֶם לְסִיר ואַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ בְתוֹכָהּ לְבָשָׂר אֶל־גְּבוּל יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶשְׁפֹּט אֶתְכֶם

It will not be a pot for you, the city will not provide protection for you, but you nevertheless will be within it like meat. You will be cooked, metaphorically, in the city. Alternatively, the word “not” relates to the entire phrase: This city shall not be your caldron, and you will not be the flesh in it. On the border of Israel I will judge you.

וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי ה' אֲשֶׁר בְּחֻקַּי לֹא הֲלַכְתֶּם וּמִשְׁפָּטַי לֹא עֲשִׂיתֶם וּכְמִשְׁפְּטֵי הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבוֹתֵיכֶם עֲשִׂיתֶם

You will know that I am the Lord, that My statutes you did not follow, and My ordinances you did not perform, but in accordance with the ordinances of the wicked nations that are around you, you acted. As with the second interpretation of the previous verse, this verse may be understood as follows: You did not perform My ordinances, and you did not follow the ordinances of the nations that are around you either (see 5:6–7).

וַיְהִי כְּהִנָּבְאִי וּפְלַטְיָהוּ בֶן־בְּנָיָה מֵת וָאֶפֹּל עַל־פָּנַי וָאֶזְעַק קוֹל גָּדוֹל וָאֹמַר אֲהָהּ ה' אֱלוֹהִים כָּלָה אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה אֵת שְׁאֵרִית יִשְׂרָאֵל

It was as I was prophesying, and Pelatyahu son of Benaya died. I fell upon my face and I cried in a loud voice, and I said: Alas, Lord God, are You engendering annihilation of the remnant of Israel? Although Ezekiel was envisioning the divine chariot and prophesying Jerusalem’s destruction, he did not expect that his prophecy would be fulfilled in the immediate future. Ezekiel took the sudden death of so central and eminent a figure hard.

וַיְהִי דְבַר־ה' אֵלַי לֵאמֹר

The word of the Lord was with me in response to the cry over the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem, saying:

בֶּן־אָדָם אַחֶיךָ אַחֶיךָ אַנְשֵׁי גְאֻלָּתֶךָ וְכָל־בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כֻּלֹּה אֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ לָהֶם ישְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם רַחֲקוּ מֵעַל ה' לָנוּ הִיא נִתְּנָה הָאָרֶץ לְמוֹרָשָׁה

Son of man, concerning your brethren in exile: Your brethren, your kinsmen who were exiled together with Ezekiel, and all the entire house of Israel, other exiles who are not in Jerusalem, of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem said: They have distanced themselves from the Lord; it is to us that the land has been given as an inheritance. Because they were the only ones remaining in the Land of Israel, and because of their physical proximity to the Temple, the inhabitants of Jerusalem considered themselves closer to God than their exiled brethren. They thought that the land was left to them alone, and that there was no hope for the rest of the people in the outlying areas. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were derisive toward the exiles in Babylonia.

לָכֵן אֱמֹר כֹּה אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים כִּי הִרְחַקְתִּים בַּגּוֹיִם וְכִי הֲפִיצוֹתִים בָּאֲרָצוֹת וָאֱהִי לָהֶם לְמִקְדָּשׁ מְעַט בָּאֲרָצוֹת אֲשֶׁר־בָּאוּ שָׁם

Therefore, say: So said the Lord God: Although I have distanced them, your brethren and the entire house of Israel, among the nations and although I dispersed them through the lands, I have not completely rejected them; I will be for them as a lesser sanctuary in the lands to which they came. Although the inhabitants of Jerusalem think that their proximity to the Temple is tantamount for them to proximity to Me, I will not rest My presence among them; rather, I will rest it among the communities in the Diaspora that have cleaved to Me by engaging in matters of sanctity and the like in their communities.

לָכֵן אֱמֹר כֹּה־אָמַר ה' אֱלוֹהִים וְקִבַּצְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִן־הָעַמִּים וְאָסַפְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִן־הָאֲרָצוֹת אֲשֶׁר נְפֹצוֹתֶם בָּהֶם וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־אַדְמַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

Therefore, say: So said the Lord God: I will collect you, the banished, from among the peoples and I will gather you from the lands in which you were dispersed, and I will give to you, the exiles, the soil of Israel.

וּבָאוּ־שָׁמָּה וְהֵסִירוּ אֶת־כָּל־שִׁקּוּצֶיהָ וְאֶת־כָּל־תּוֹעֲבוֹתֶיהָ מִמֶּנָּה

They will come there, from their scattered locations, and they will remove all of the land’s repugnant objects and all of its abominations from it.

וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב אֶחָד וְרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה אֶתֵּן בְּקִרְבָּם וַהֲסִרֹתִי לֵב הָאֶבֶן מִבְּשָׂרָם וְנָתַתִּי לָהֶם לֵב בָּשָׂר

I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will place within you, and I will remove the heart of stone, the insensate heart from their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh, a new sentient heart,

לְמַעַן בְּחֻקֹּתַי יֵלֵכוּ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי יִשְׁמְרוּ וְעָשׂוּ אֹתָם וְהָיוּ־לִי לְעָם וַאֲנִי אֶהְיֶה לָהֶם לֵאלֹהִים

so that they will follow My statutes, and My ordinances they will observe, and they will perform them. They will be My people, and I will be their God.

וְאֶל־לֵב שִׁקּוּצֵיהֶם וְתוֹעֲבוֹתֵיהֶם לִבָּם הֹלֵךְ דַּרְכָּם בְּרֹאשָׁם נָתַתִּי נְאֻם ה' אֱלוֹהִים

But to those in Jerusalem, and perhaps in other places, whose heart follows the heart of their repugnant objects and their abominations, retribution for their way I will place upon their head – the utterance of the Lord God. The prophet is informed that the land will be rebuilt, but its salvation will come at the hands of the exiles in Babylonia and not from its current inhabitants.

וַיִּשְׂאוּ הַכְּרוּבִים אֶת־כַּנְפֵיהֶם וְהָאוֹפַנִּים לְעֻמָּתָם וּכְבוֹד אֱלֹהֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲלֵיהֶם מִלְמָעְלָה

After speaking of the punishment of Jerusalem’s inhabitants and the promise to those in exile, the glory of God departed from Jerusalem: The cherubs raised their wings, and the wheels rose parallel to them, and the glory of the God of Israel was upon them from above.

וַיַּעַל כְּבוֹד ה' מֵעַל תּוֹךְ הָעִיר וַיַּעֲמֹד עַל־הָהָר אֲשֶׁר מִקֶּדֶם לָעִיר

The glory of the Lord rose from above the midst of the city and stood upon the Mount of Olives, the mountain that was east of the city of Jerusalem.

וְרוּחַ נְשָׂאַתְנִי וַתְּבִיאֵנִי כַשְׂדִּימָה אֶל־הַגּוֹלָה בַּמַּרְאֶה בְּרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים וַיַּעַל מֵעָלַי הַמַּרְאֶה אֲשֶׁר רָאִיתִי

A wind lifted me up at the conclusion of the terrifying visions that I witnessed in Jerusalem and brought me to Chaldea, Babylonia, to the exiles, in the vision by the spirit of God, and the vision that I had seen lifted from upon Me and left me.

וָאֲדַבֵּר אֶל־הַגּוֹלָה אֵת כָּל־דִּבְרֵי ה' אֲשֶׁר הֶרְאָנִי

I spoke to the exiles all the words of the Lord that He had shown me, all that I saw and heard regarding Jerusalem, the fate of the city and of the people in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora.