Ezekiel Is Israel's Watchman

33 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, speak to ^(B)your people and say to them, If ^(C)I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their ^(D)watchman, ³ and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^(E)blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, ^(F)his blood shall be upon his own head. ^5 (G)He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. ^6 (H)But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, ^(I)that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

^7 (J)“So you, ^(K)son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. ^(L)Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. ^8 (M)If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, ^(N)and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, ^(O)that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ^9 (P)But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, ^(Q)that person shall die in his iniquity, ^(R)but you will have delivered your soul.

Why Will You Die, Israel?

¹⁰ “And you, ^(S)son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and ^(T)we rot away because of them. ^(U)How then can we live?’ ¹¹ Say to them, ^(V)As I live, declares the Lord God, ^(W)I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; ^(X)turn back, turn back from your evil ways, ^(Y)for why will you die, O house of Israel?

^12 (Z)“And you, son of man, say to ^(AA)your people, ^(AB)The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, ^(AC)and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, ^(AD)and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness^[a] when he sins. ¹³ Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet ^(AE)if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die. ¹⁴ Again, ^(AF)though I say to the wicked, ^(AG)‘You shall surely die,’ yet ^(AH)if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, ¹⁵ if the wicked ^(AI)restores the pledge, ^(AJ)gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks ^(AK)in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (AL)None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.

¹⁷ “Yet ^(AM)your people say, ^(AN)‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just. ^18 (AO)When the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it. ¹⁹ And ^(AP)when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, ^(AQ)I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Struck Down

²¹ In the ^(AR)twelfth year ^(AS)of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, ^(AT)a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and said, ^(AU)“The city has been struck down.” ^22 (AV)Now ^(AW)the hand of the Lord had been upon me the evening before the fugitive came; and he had opened my mouth by the time the man came to me in the morning, so my mouth was opened, and I was no longer mute.

²³ The word of the Lord came to me: ^24 (AX)“Son of man, the inhabitants of these ^(AY)waste places in the land of Israel keep saying, ^(AZ)‘Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land; but ^(BA)we are many; the land is surely given us to possess.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(BB)You eat flesh with the blood and ^(BC)lift up your eyes to your idols and ^(BD)shed blood; shall you then possess the land? ^26 (BE)You rely on the sword, ^(BF)you commit abominations, and ^(BG)each of you defiles his neighbor's wife; shall you then possess the land? ²⁷ Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^(BH)As I live, surely those who are in ^(BI)the waste places shall fall by ^(BJ)the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to ^(BK)the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in ^(BL)strongholds and in caves shall die by ^(BM)pestilence. ^28 (BN)And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and ^(BO)her proud might shall come to an end, and ^(BP)the mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that none will pass through. ^29 (BQ)Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed.

³⁰ “As for you, ^(BR)son of man, ^(BS)your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.’ ^31 (BT)And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for ^(BU)with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and ^(BV)plays^[b] well on an instrument, for ^(BW)they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ^33 (BX)When this comes—and come it will!—^(BY)then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

34 The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (BZ)“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: ^(CA)Ah, shepherds of Israel ^(CB)who have been feeding yourselves! ^(CC)Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ^3 (CD)You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, ^(CE)you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. ^4 (CF)The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, ^(CG)the injured you have not bound up, ^(CH)the strayed you have not brought back, ^(CI)the lost you have not sought, and with force and ^(CJ)harshness you have ruled them. ^5 (CK)So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and ^(CL)they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; ⁶ they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, ^(CM)with none to search or seek for them.

⁷ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ^8 (CN)As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because ^(CO)my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God, ^(CP)Behold, I am against the shepherds, and ^(CQ)I will require my sheep at their hand and ^(CR)put a stop to their feeding the sheep. ^(CS)No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. ^(CT)I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(CU)Behold, I, I ^(CV)myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ^(CW)a day of clouds and ^(CX)thick darkness. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples ^(CY)and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on ^(CZ)the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14 (DA)I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. ^(DB)There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ^15 (DC)I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, ^(DD)and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ^16 (DE)I will seek the lost, ^(DF)and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and ^(DG)the fat and the strong I will destroy.^[c] I will feed them in justice.

¹⁷ “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(DH)Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and ^(DI)male goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of ^(DJ)clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? ¹⁹ And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

²⁰ “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and shoulder, and ^(DK)thrust at all the ^(DL)weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²² I will rescue^[d] my flock; ^(DM)they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ And ^(DN)I will set up over them one shepherd, ^(DO)my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(DP)I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ^(DQ)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

^25 (DR)“I will make with them a covenant of peace and ^(DS)banish wild beasts from the land, ^(DT)so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ And I will make them and the places all around my hill ^(DU)a blessing, and ^(DV)I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be ^(DW)showers of blessing. ^27 (DX)And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, ^(DY)and they shall be secure in their land. And ^(DZ)they shall know that I am the Lord, when ^(EA)I break the bars of their yoke, and ^(EB)deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ^28 (EC)They shall no more be a prey to the nations, ^(ED)nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. ^(EE)They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹ And I will provide for them ^(EF)renowned plantations so that ^(EG)they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer ^(EH)suffer the reproach of the nations. ³⁰ And they shall know that ^(EI)I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹ And you are my sheep, ^(EJ)human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹ About this we have much to say, and it is ^(A)hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(B)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(C)milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(D)a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for ^(E)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(F)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

6 Therefore ^(G)let us leave ^(H)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(I)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(J)instruction about washings,^{[a] (K)}the laying on of hands, ^(L)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(M)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(N)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(O)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(P)the heavenly gift, and ^(Q)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(R)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(S)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(T)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(U)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(V)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(W)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(X)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(Y)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(Z)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(AA)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(AB)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^(AC)he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, ^(AD)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^{[b] (AE)}having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^(AF)an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to ^(AG)the heirs of the promise ^(AH)the unchangeable character of his purpose, ^(AI)he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^(AJ)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^(AK)set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ^(AL)the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone ^(AM)as a forerunner on our behalf, ^(AN)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Deliver Me, O Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.