Ezekiel 33; Ezekiel 34

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, speak to the people of your own country. Tell them, 'Suppose I send enemies against a land. And its people choose one of their men to stand guard.

3 He sees the enemies coming against the land. He blows a trumpet to warn the people.

4 " 'Someone hears the trumpet. But he does not pay any attention to the warning. The enemies come and kill him. Then what happens to him will be his own fault.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet. But he did not pay any attention to the warning. So what happened to him was his own fault. If he had paid attention, he would have saved himself.

6 " 'But suppose the guard sees the enemies coming. And he does not blow the trumpet to warn the people. The enemies come and kill one of them. Then his life has been taken away from him because he sinned. But I will hold the guard accountable for his death.'

7 "Son of man, I have appointed you as a prophet to warn the people of Israel. So listen to my message. Give them a warning from me.

8 "Suppose I say to a sinful person, 'You can be sure that you will die.' And suppose you do not try to get him to change his ways. Then he will die because he has sinned. And I will hold you accountable for his death.

9 "But suppose you do warn that sinful person. You tell him to change his ways. But he does not do it. Then he will die because he has sinned. But you will have saved yourself.

10 "Son of man, speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'You are saying, "Our sins and the wrong things we have done weigh us down. We are wasting away because we have sinned so much. So how can we live?" '

11 "Tell them, 'When sinful people die, it does not give me any joy. But when they turn away from their sins and live, that makes me very happy. And that is just as sure as I am alive,' announces the LORD and King. 'So turn away from your sins! Change your evil ways! Why should you die, people of Israel?'

12 "Son of man, speak to the people of your own country. Tell them, 'The right things a godly person does will not save him when he does not obey the Lord. The wrong things a sinful person does will not destroy him when he turns away from them. If a godly person sins, he will not be allowed to live just because he used to do what is right.'

13 "Suppose I tell someone who is godly that he will live. And he trusts in the fact that he used to do what was right. But now he does what is evil. Then I will not remember any of the right things he has done. He will die because he has done so many evil things.

14 "Suppose I say to a sinful person, 'You can be sure you will die.' And then he turns away from his sin. He does what is fair and right.

15 He gives back what he took as security for a loan. He returns what he has stolen. He follows my rules that give life. He does not do what is evil. Then you can be sure he will live. He will not die.

16 None of the sins he has committed will be held against him. He has done what is fair and right. So you can be sure he will live.

17 "In spite of that, your people say, 'What the Lord does isn't fair.' But it is what you do that is not fair.

18 "Suppose someone who is godly stops doing what is right. And he does what is evil. Then he will die because of it.

19 But suppose a sinful person turns away from the evil things he has done. And he does what is fair and right. Then he will live by doing that.

20 "In spite of that, you people of Israel say, 'What the Lord does isn't fair.' But I will judge each of you based on how you have lived."

21 It was the 12th year since we had been brought to Babylonia as prisoners. On the fifth day of the tenth month, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to bring me a report. He said, "The city has fallen!"

22 The evening before the man arrived, the LORD put his strong hand on me. He opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened. I was no longer silent.

23 Then a message came to me from the Lord. He said,

24 "Son of man, the people who live in those broken-down buildings in Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man. But he owned the land. We are many people. The land must certainly belong to us.'

25 "So tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "You eat meat that still has blood in it. You worship your gods. You commit murder. So should you still possess the land?

26 You depend on your swords. You do things I hate. Each one of you has sex with your neighbor's wife. So should you still possess the land?" '

27 "Tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "The people who are left in those broken-down buildings will be killed with swords. Wild animals will eat up those who are out in the country. Those who are in caves and other safe places will die of a plague. And that is just as sure as I am alive.

28 " ' "I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. The strength Jerusalem is so proud of will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be deserted. No one will travel across them.

29 So I will turn the land into a dry and empty desert. I will punish my people because of all of the evil things they have done. I hate those things. They will know that I am the Lord." '

30 "Son of man, your people are talking about you. They are getting together by the walls of their houses and at their doors. They are saying to one another, 'Come. Listen to the LORD's message.'

31 "My people come to you, just as they usually do. They sit in front of you. They listen to what you say. But they do not put it into practice. With their mouths they claim to be faithful to me. But in their hearts they want what belongs to others. They try to get rich by cheating them.

32 You are nothing more to them than someone who sings love songs. They say you have a beautiful voice. They think you play an instrument well. They listen to what you say. But they do not put it into practice.

33 "Everything I have told you will come true. You can be sure of it. Then the people will know that a prophet has been among them."

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said,

2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Tell them, 'The LORD and King says, "How terrible it will be for you shepherds of Israel! You only take care of yourselves. You should take good care of your flocks.

3 Instead, you eat the butter. You dress yourselves with the wool. You kill the finest animals. But you do not take care of your flocks.

4 You have not made the weak ones in the flock stronger. You have not healed the sick. You have not bandaged those that are hurt. You have not brought back those that have wandered away. You have not searched for the lost. When you ruled over them, you were mean to them. You treated them badly.

5 " ' "So they were scattered because they did not have a shepherd. They became food for all of the wild animals.

6 My sheep wandered all over the mountains and high hills. They were scattered over the whole earth. No one searched for them. No one looked for them."

7 " 'Shepherds, listen to the LORD's message.

8 He says, "My flock does not have a shepherd. Many of my sheep have been stolen. They have become food for all of the wild animals. My shepherds did not care for my sheep. They did not even search for them. Instead, they only took care of themselves. And that is just as sure as I am alive," announces the LORD and King.

9 " 'Shepherds, listen to the LORD's message.

10 The LORD and King says, "I am against the shepherds. I will hold them accountable for my flock. I will stop them from taking care of the flock. Then they will not be able to feed themselves anymore. I will save my flock from their mouths. My sheep will no longer be food for them." ' "

11 The LORD and King says, "I myself will search for my sheep. I will look after them.

12 A shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them. And I will look after my sheep. I will save them from all of the places where they were scattered on a dark and cloudy day.

13 "I will bring them out from among the nations. I will gather them together from other countries. I will bring them into their own land. They will eat grass on the mountains of Israel. I will also let them eat in the valleys and in all of the places in the land where people live.

14 I will take care of them in the best grasslands. They will eat grass on the high mountains of Israel. There they will lie down in the finest grasslands. They will eat grass in the best places on Israel's mountains.

15 "I myself will take care of my sheep. I will let them lie down in safety," announces the LORD and King.

16 "I will search for the lost. I will bring back those that have wandered away. I will bandage the ones that are hurt. I will make the weak ones stronger. But I will destroy those that are fat and strong. I will take good care of my sheep. I will treat them fairly."

17 The LORD and King says, "You are my flock. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will judge between rams and goats.

18 You already eat in the best grasslands. Must you also stomp all over the other fields? You already drink clear water. Must you also make the rest of the water muddy with your feet?

19 Must my flock have to eat the grass you have stomped on? Must they drink the water you have made muddy?"

20 So the LORD and King speaks to them. He says, "I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the skinny sheep.

21 You push the other sheep around with your hips and shoulders. You use your horns to butt all of the weak sheep. Finally, you drive them away.

22 But I will save my sheep. They will not be carried off anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 "I will place one shepherd over them. He will belong to the family line of my servant David. He will take good care of them. He will look after them. He will be their shepherd.

24 I am the Lord. I will be their God. And my servant from David's line will be prince among them. I have spoken. I am the Lord.

25 "I will make a covenant with them. It promises to give them peace. I will get rid of the wild animals in the land. Then my sheep can live safely in the desert. They can sleep in the forests.

26 "I will bless them. I will also bless the places surrounding my holy mountain of Zion. I will send down rain at the right time. There will be showers of blessing.

27 The trees in the fields will bear their fruit. And the ground will produce its crops. The people will be secure in their land. I will break the chains that hold them. I will save them from the powerful hands of those who made them slaves. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

28 "The nations will not carry them off anymore. Wild animals will no longer eat them up. They will live in safety. And no one will make them afraid.

29 I will give them a land that is famous for its crops. They will never be hungry there again. The nations will not make fun of them anymore.

30 "Then they will know that I am with them. I am the LORD their God. And they will know that they are my people Israel," announces the LORD and King.

31 "You are the sheep belonging to my flock. You are my people. And I am your God," announces the LORD and King.