News of Jerusalem's Fall Reaches Ezekiel

In the twelfth year of the exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a man escaped from Jerusalem and came to Ezekiel. He brought the news that the city had been defeated. The evening before the man arrived, the Lord's hand had been on Ezekiel, and by morning his mouth was opened. He was no longer mute.

Then the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel about people living in the ruined places of Israel. They were saying that Abraham had inherited the land by himself, so surely they, being many, should have it as their inheritance.

But God told Ezekiel to answer them plainly. They ate meat with the blood, looked to idols, and shed blood. They trusted in the sword, did detestable things, and defiled one another's wives. People living like that could not claim the land as though nothing were wrong.

So Ezekiel was to announce God's judgment. Those in the ruined places would fall by the sword. Those in the open field would be given to wild animals. Those hiding in strongholds and caves would die by pestilence. The land would become desolate, and the pride of its strength would cease.

Then they would know that Yahweh is the Lord, because the land had been made a desolation on account of all their abominations. The message was not only about the city's fall. It was also about the sins that still marked the people who remained in the land.

God also said the people talked about Ezekiel among the walls and at their house doors, inviting each other to hear the word from the Lord. They came and sat before him, but they did not do what they heard. His words sounded to them like a lovely song. When the warning came true, they would know that a prophet had been among them.