12. Then you will know that I am the Lord. It was my law that you broke. You did not obey my commands. You decided to live like the nations around you.”
13. As soon as I finished speaking for God, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died! I fell to the ground. I bowed with my face touching the ground and said, “Oh, Lord GOD, you are going to completely destroy all the survivors of Israel!”
14. But then the word of the Lord came to me. He said,
15. “Son of man, remember your brothers, the family of Israel. They were forced to leave their country, but I will bring them back. But now, the people living in Jerusalem are saying, ‘Stay far away from the Lord. This land was given to us—it is ours!’
16. “So tell them this: The Lord GOD says, ‘It is true, I forced my people to go far away to other nations. I did scatter them among many countries. But I will be their temple for a short time while they are in those other countries.
17. But you must tell those people that the Lord GOD will bring them back. I have scattered you among many nations, but I will gather you together and bring you back from those nations. I will give the land of Israel back to you.
18. When my people come back, they will destroy all the terrible, filthy idols that are here now.
19. I will bring them together and make them like one person. I will put a new spirit in them. I will take away that heart of stone, and I will put a real heart in its place.
20. Then they will obey my laws and my commands. They will do the things I tell them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.’”
21. Then God said, “But now, their hearts belong to those terrible, filthy idols, and I must punish those people for the bad things they have done.” This is what the Lord GOD said.
22. Then the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air. The wheels went with them. The Glory of the God of Israel was above them.
23. The Glory of the Lord rose into the air and left the city and stopped on the hill east of Jerusalem.