Ezekiel 33; Ezekiel 34; 1 Peter 5

Ezekiel 33

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them:

3 And he sees the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people:

4 Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come, and cut him off: his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not look to himself, his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life.

6 And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet: and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come, and cut off a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.

7 So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.

8 When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.

9 But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them: how then can we live?

11 Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will you die, O house of Israel?

12 Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin: and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness: and the just shall not be able to live in his justice, in what day soever he shall sin.

13 Yea, if I shall say to the just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity: all his justices shall be forgotten, and his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.

14 And it I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die: and he do penance for his sin, and do judgment and justice,

15 And if that wicked man restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing: he shall surely live, and shall not die.

16 None of his sins, which he hath committed, shall be imputed to him: he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live.

17 And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable: whereas their own way is unjust.

18 For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them.

19 And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments, and justice, he shall live in them.

20 And you say: The way of the Lord is not right, I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.

21 And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that there came to me one that was fled from Jerusalem, saying: The city is laid waste.

22 And the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was fled came: and he opened my mouth till he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I was silent no more.

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

24 Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places in the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many, the land is given us in possession.

25 Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?

26 You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbours wife; and shall you possess the land by inheritance?

27 Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places, shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in holds, and caves, shall die of the pestilence.

28 And I will make the land a wilderness, and a desert, and the proud strength thereof shall fail, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass by them,

29 And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land waste and desolate, for all their abominations which they have committed.

30 And thou son of man: the children of thy people, that talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another each man to his neighbour, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.

31 And they come to thee, as if people were coming in, and my people sit before thee: and hear thy words, and do them not: for they turn them into a song of their mouth, and their heart goeth after their covetousness.

32 And thou art to them as a musical song which is sung with a sweet and agreeable voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not.

33 And when that which was foretold shall come to pass, for behold it is coming, then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

Ezekiel 34

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, it saying:

2 Son of man, prophesy concerning the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to the shepherds: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, that fed themselves: should not the flocks be fed by the shepherds?

3 You ate the milk, and you clothed yourselves with the wool, and you killed that which was fat: but my flock you did not feed.

4 The weak you have not strengthened, and that which was sick you have not healed, that which was broken you have not bound up, and that which was driven away you have not brought again, neither have you sought that which was lost: but you ruled over them with rigour, and with a high hand.

5 And my sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd and they became the prey of all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.

6 My sheep have wandered in every mountain, and in every high hill: and my flocks were scattered upon the face of the earth, and there was none that sought them, there was none, I say, that sought them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

8 As I live, saith the Lord God, forasmuch as my flocks have been made a spoil, and my sheep are become a prey to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd: for my shepherds did not seek after my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flocks:

9 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

10 Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself come upon the shepherds, I will require my flock at their hand, and I will cause them to cease from feeding the flock any more, neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more: and I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and it shall no more be meat for them.

11 For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I myself will seek my sheep, and will visit them.

12 As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and will gather them out of the countries, and will bring them to their own land: and I will feed them in the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the habitations of the land.

14 I will feed them in the most fruitful pastures, and their pastures shall be in the high mountains of Israel: there shall they rest on the green grass, and be fed in fat pastures upon the mountains of Israel.

15 I will feed my sheep: and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.

16 I will seek that which was lost: and that which was driven away, I will bring again: and I will bind up that which was broken, and I will strengthen that which was weak, and that which was fat and strong I will preserve, and I will feed them in judgment.

17 And as for you, O my flocks, thus saith the Lord God: Behold I judge between cattle and cattle, of rams and of he goats.

18 Was it not enough for you to feed upon good pastures? but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures: and when you drank the clearest water, you troubled the rest with your feet.

19 And my sheep were fed with that which you had trodden with your feet: and they drank what your feet had troubled.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean.

21 Because you thrusted with sides and shoulders, and struck all the weak cattle with your horns, till they were scattered abroad:

22 I will save my flock, and it shall be no more a spoil, and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

23 And I WILL SET UP ONE SHEPHERD OVER THEM, and he shall feed them, even my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24 And I the Lord will be their God: and my servant David the prince in the midst of them: I the Lord have spoken it.

25 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they that dwell in the wilderness shall sleep secure in the forests.

26 And I will make them a blessing round about my hill: and I will send down the rain in its season, there shall be showers of blessing.

27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be in their land without fear: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have broken the bonds of their yoke, and shall have delivered them out of the hand of those that rule over them.

28 And they shall be no more for a spoil to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them: but they shall dwell securely without, any terror.

29 And I will raise up for them a bud of renown: and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither shall they bear any more the reproach of the Gentiles.

30 And they shall know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they are my people the house of Israel: saith the Lord God.

31 And you my flocks, the flocks of my pasture are men: and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.

1 Peter 5

1 The ancients therefore that are among you, I beseech who am myself also an ancient and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as also a partaker of that glory which is to be revealed in time to come:

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking care of it, not by constraint but willingly, according to God: not for filthy lucre’s sake but voluntarily:

3 Neither as lording it over the clergy but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart.

4 And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never fading crown of glory.

5 In like manner, ye young men, be subject to the ancients. And do you all insinuate humility one to another: for God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.

6 Be you humbled therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation:

7 Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you.

8 Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.

9 Whom resist ye, strong in faith: knowing that the same affliction befalls, your brethren who are in the world.

10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little, will himself perfect you and confirm you and establish you.

11 To him be glory and empire, for ever and ever. Amen.

12 By Sylvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I think, I have written briefly: beseeching and testifying that this is the true grace of God, wherein you stand.

13 The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you. And so doth my son, Mark.

14 Salute one another with a holy kiss. Grace be to all you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.