Ezekiel 11:19 Explained

"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:" — Ezekiel 11:19 (KJV)

A promise of internal change made to exiles, in which every verb belongs to God and none to them.

Read it in context: The Book of Ezekiel. Also gathered under verses about new beginnings.

Ezekiel 11:19 in context

What does Ezekiel 11:19 mean?

Four promises, four times 'I will'. Nothing is asked of the hearers, which is unusual and is the point — a stone heart is by definition not able to soften itself. 'Flesh' is used positively here, against its usual sense: a heart that can be moved, that registers what happens to it. The gift is capacity to feel, not comfort.

What is the context of Ezekiel 11:19?

Ezekiel is in Babylon among the deported. Jerusalem has not yet fallen but will. The people around him have lost the temple, the land and the argument, and are being told that what is coming next happens inside them rather than around them.

How do I pray Ezekiel 11:19?

Pray it about a hardness you have noticed in yourself and cannot argue your way out of — usually toward a person or an old injury. Ask rather than resolve; the verse does not offer a technique. If nothing shifts immediately, note that this was said to people with seventy years of exile still ahead of them.

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