The Watchman and His Message

33 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to ^(A)the children of your people, and say to them: ^(B)‘When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their ^(C)watchman, ³ when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does ^(D)not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, ^(E)his blood shall be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will ^[a]save his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, ^(F)he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’

^7 (G)“So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. ⁹ Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have ^[b]delivered your soul.

¹⁰ “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we ^(H)pine^[c] away in them, ^(I)how can we then live?” ’ ¹¹ Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ^(J)‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked ^(K)turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For ^(L)why should you die, O house of Israel?’

The Fairness of God’s Judgment

¹² “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The ^(M)righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, ^(N)he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, ^(O)but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die. ¹⁴ Again, ^(P)when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does ^[d]what is lawful and ^[e]right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(Q)restores the pledge, ^(R)gives back what he has stolen, and walks in ^(S)the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (T)None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

^17 (U)“Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not ^[f]fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair! ^18 (V)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, ^(W)‘The way of the Lord is not ^[g]fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”

The Fall of Jerusalem

²¹ And it came to pass in the twelfth year ^(X)of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(Y)that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^(Z)“The city has been ^[h]captured!”

²² Now ^(AA)the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had ^(AB)opened my mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

The Cause of Judah’s Ruin

²³ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ²⁴ “Son of man, ^(AC)they who inhabit those ^(AD)ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ^(AE)‘Abraham was only one, and he inherited the land. ^(AF)But we are many; the land has been given to us as a ^(AG)possession.’

²⁵ “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(AH)“You eat meat with blood, you ^(AI)lift up your eyes toward your idols, and ^(AJ)shed blood. Should you then possess the ^(AK)land? ²⁶ You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you ^(AL)defile one another’s wives. Should you then possess the land?” ’

²⁷ “Say thus to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely ^(AM)those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field ^(AN)I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and ^(AO)caves shall die of the pestilence. ^28 (AP)For I will make the land most desolate, ^[i]her ^(AQ)arrogant strength shall cease, and ^(AR)the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’

Hearing and Not Doing

³⁰ “As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they ^(AS)speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ So ^(AT)they come to you as people do, they ^(AU)sit before you as My people, and they ^(AV)hear your words, but they do not do them; ^(AW)for with their mouth they show much love, but ^(AX)their hearts pursue their own gain. ³² Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do ^(AY)not do them. ^33 (AZ)And when this comes to pass—surely it will come—then ^(BA)they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Irresponsible Shepherds

34 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: ^(BB)“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ^3 (BC)You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you ^(BD)slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. ^4 (BE)The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor ^(BF)sought what was lost; but with ^(BG)force and ^[j]cruelty you have ruled them. ^5 (BH)So they were ^(BI)scattered because there was no shepherd; ^(BJ)and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. ⁶ My sheep ^(BK)wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”

⁷ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock ^(BL)became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, ^(BM)but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— ⁹ therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am ^(BN)against the shepherds, and ^(BO)I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall ^(BP)feed themselves no more; for I will ^(BQ)deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

God, the True Shepherd

¹¹ ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹² As a ^(BR)shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on ^(BS)a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ And ^(BT)I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, ^[k]in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14 (BU)I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. ^(BV)There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ^16 (BW)“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy ^(BX)the fat and the strong, and feed them ^(BY)in judgment.”

¹⁷ ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(BZ)“Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. ¹⁸ Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the ^[l]residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹ And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

²⁰ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ^(CA)“Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²² therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ I will establish one ^(CB)shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^(CC)My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(CD)I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^(CE)a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

^25 (CF)“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and ^(CG)cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they ^(CH)will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places all around ^(CI)My hill ^(CJ)a blessing; and I will ^(CK)cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be ^(CL)showers of blessing. ²⁷ Then ^(CM)the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(CN)broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who ^(CO)enslaved them. ²⁸ And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but ^(CP)they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹ I will raise up for them a ^(CQ)garden^[m] of renown, and they shall ^(CR)no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, ^(CS)nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰ Thus they shall know that ^(CT)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are ^(CU)My people,” says the Lord God.’

³¹ “You are My ^(CV)flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

Concluding Moral Directions

13 Let ^(A)brotherly love continue. ^2 (B)Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing ^(C)some have unwittingly entertained angels. ^3 (D)Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.

^4 (E)Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; ^(F)but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ^(G)“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we may boldly say:

Concluding Religious Directions

⁷ Remember those who ^[a]rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. ⁸ Jesus Christ is ^(I)the same yesterday, today, and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried ^[b]about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might ^[c]sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing ^(J)His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. ^15 (K)Therefore by Him let us continually offer ^(L)the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(M)the fruit of our lips, ^[d]giving thanks to His name. ^16 (N)But do not forget to do good and to share, for ^(O)with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

^17 (P)Obey those who ^[e]rule over you, and be submissive, for ^(Q)they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Prayer Requested

^18 (R)Pray for us; for we are confident that we have ^(S)a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably. ¹⁹ But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction, Final Exhortation, Farewell

²⁰ Now may ^(T)the God of peace ^(U)who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, ^(V)that great Shepherd of the sheep, ^(W)through the blood of the everlasting covenant, ²¹ make you ^[f]complete in every good work to do His will, ^(X)working in ^[g]you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

²² And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words. ²³ Know that our brother Timothy has been set free, with whom I shall see you if he comes shortly.

²⁴ Greet all those who ^[h]rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you.

²⁵ Grace be with you all. Amen.

The Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God