Ezekiel 33; Ezekiel 34; 1 Peter 5

1 The LORD's word came to me:

2 Human one, speak to your people and say to them: Suppose I bring a sword against a country, and the people of the land take a certain person from their assembly and make him their lookout.

3 When he sees the sword coming against the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people.

4 If they hear the sound of the trumpet but don't heed the warning, when the sword comes and they are taken away, they are responsible for their blood.

5 They heard the sound of the trumpet but didn't heed the warning, so their blood is on them. If they had paid attention to the warning, they would have saved their lives.

6 If the lookout sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the trumpet to warn the people, when the sword comes and takes away any of them, they are taken away in their sin, but I'll hold the lookout responsible for their blood.

7 You, human one, I've made you a lookout for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear me speaking, you must give them warning from me.

8 If I pronounce a death sentence on wicked people, and you don't warn them to turn from their way, they will die in their guilt, but I will hold you responsible for their blood.

9 But suppose you do warn the wicked of their ways so that they might turn from them. If they don't turn from their ways, they will die in their guilt, but you will save your life.

10 You, human one, say to the house of Israel: This is what all of you are saying: "How our transgressions and our sins weigh on us! We waste away because of them. How can we live?"

11 Say to them, This is what the LORD God says: As surely as I live, do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? If the wicked turn from their ways, they will live. Turn, completely turn from your wicked ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?

12 You, human one, say to your people: The righteousness of the righteous doesn't rescue them when they begin to sin. Nor does the wickedness of the wicked make them stumble if they turn from their wickedness. If the righteous sin, their righteousness won't protect them.

13 Even if I've told the righteous they will live, none of their righteous deeds will be remembered if they trust in their righteousness and do wrong. They will die because of their evil deeds.

14 And even if I have pronounced a death sentence on the wicked, if they turn from sin and do what is just and right—

15 if they return pledges, make restitution for robbery, and walk in life-giving regulations in order not to sin—they will live and not die.

16 None of the sins they've committed will be remembered against them. They've done what is just and right, and they will live.

17 Yet your people say, "My Lord's way doesn't measure up." Isn't it their ways that don't measure up?

18 When the righteous turn from their righteousness to do wrong, they will die because of it.

19 And when the wicked turn from their wickedness to do what is just and right, it is for that reason they will live.

20 Yet you say, "My Lord's way doesn't measure up." I judge each one of you according to your ways, house of Israel!

21 In the twelfth year, on the fifth day of the tenth month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and reported, "The city has fallen!"

22 The LORD's power was with me in the evening before the survivor arrived, and just before he arrived in the morning, God opened my mouth. So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer speechless.

23 The LORD's word came to me:

24 Human one, those who live among those ruins in Israel's fertile land are saying, "Abraham was just one man, and he inherited the land. We are many, so certainly the land has been given to us as an inheritance."

25 So say to them, The LORD God proclaims: You eat with the blood, you lift your eyes to the idols, and you shed blood. Should you inherit the land?

26 You live by the sword, you observe detestable practices, and every one of you commits adultery. Should you inherit the land?

27 Say to them, The LORD God proclaims: As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the countryside I will give to the wild beasts to consume, and those in the strongholds and caves will die of plague.

28 I will make the land an uninhabitable waste. Its proud strength will come to an end, and Israel's highlands will become so deserted that no one will cross through them.

29 They will know that I am the LORD when I make the land an uninhabitable waste because of all their detestable practices.

30 As for you, human one, your people talk about you beside the walls and in their doorways. One by one, they say to each other, "Let's go hear what sort of message has come from the LORD."

31 So they come to you as people do, and they sit before you as my people. They listen to your words, but they refuse to do them. Though they speak of their longing for me, they act out of their own interests and opinions.

32 To them you are like a singer of love songs with a lovely voice and skilled technique. They listen to your words, but no one does them.

33 When this comes—and it is certainly coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

1 The LORD's word came to me:

2 Human one, prophesy against Israel's shepherds. Prophesy and say to them, The LORD God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel's shepherds who tended themselves! Shouldn't shepherds tend the flock?

3 You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don't tend the flock.

4 You don't strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice.

5 Without a shepherd, my flock was scattered; and when it was scattered, it became food for all the wild animals.

6 My flock strayed on all the mountains and on every high hill throughout all the earth. My flock was scattered, and there was no one to look for them or find them.

7 So now shepherds, hear the LORD's word!

8 This is what the LORD God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey. My flock became food for all the wild animals. My shepherds didn't seek out my flock. They tended themselves, but they didn't tend my flock.

9 So, shepherds, hear the LORD's word!

10 The LORD God proclaims: I'm against the shepherds! I will hold them accountable for my flock, and I will put an end to their tending the flock. The shepherds will no longer tend them, because I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and they will no longer be their food.

11 The LORD God proclaims: I myself will search for my flock and seek them out.

12 As a shepherd seeks out the flock when some in the flock have been scattered, so will I seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered during the time of clouds and thick darkness.

13 I will gather and lead them out from the countries and peoples, and I will bring them to their own fertile land. I will feed them on Israel's highlands, along the riverbeds, and in all the inhabited places.

14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their sheepfold will be there, on Israel's lofty highlands. On Israel's highlands, they will lie down in a secure fold and feed on green pastures.

15 I myself will feed my flock and make them lie down. This is what the LORD God says.

16 I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. But the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep with justice.

17 As for you, my flock, the LORD God proclaims: I will judge between the rams and the bucks among the sheep and the goats.

18 Is feeding in good pasture or drinking clear water such a trivial thing that you should trample and muddy what is left with your feet?

19 But now my flock must feed on what your feet have trampled and drink water that your feet have muddied.

20 So the LORD God proclaims to them: I will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.

21 You shove with shoulder and flank, and with your horns you ram all the weak sheep until you've scattered them outside.

22 But I will rescue my flock so that they will never again be prey. I will even judge between the sheep!

23 I will appoint for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them. My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd.

24 I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince. I, the LORD, have spoken.

25 I will make a covenant of peace for them, and I will banish the wild animals from the land. Then they will safely live in the desert and sleep in the forest.

26 I will give them and those around my hill a blessing by sending the rain in its season. They will be rains of blessing.

27 The trees in the field will bear fruit, and the earth will yield its harvest. They will be safe on their fertile land, and they will know that I am the LORD when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from those who enslaved them.

28 The nations will no longer prey on them, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, with no one to trouble them.

29 I will establish for them a place famous for what it grows. No longer will they experience famine in the land, nor will they bear the disgrace of the nations.

30 They will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are my people. This is what the LORD God says.

31 You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are human, and I am your God. This is what the LORD God says.

1 Therefore, I have a request for the elders among you. (I ask this as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ's sufferings, and as one who shares in the glory that is about to be revealed.) I urge the elders:

2 Like shepherds, tend the flock of God among you. Watch over it. Don't shepherd because you must, but do it voluntarily for God. Don't shepherd greedily, but do it eagerly.

3 Don't shepherd by ruling over those entrusted to your care, but become examples to the flock.

4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory.

5 In the same way, I urge you who are younger: accept the authority of the elders. And everyone, clothe yourselves with humility toward each other. God stands against the proud, but he gives favor to the humble.

6 Therefore, humble yourselves under God's power so that he may raise you up in the last day.

7 Throw all your anxiety onto him, because he cares about you.

8 Be clearheaded. Keep alert. Your accuser, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith. Do so in the knowledge that your fellow believers are enduring the same suffering throughout the world.

10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you.

11 To him be power forever and always. Amen.

12 I have written and sent these few lines to you by Silvanus. I consider him to be a faithful brother. In these lines I have urged and affirmed that this is the genuine grace of God. Stand firm in it.

13 The fellow-elect church in Babylon greets you, and so does my son Mark.

14 Greet each other with the kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ.