^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,

³⁰ “As for you, ^(A)son of man, ^(B)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.’

¹⁷ “Yet ^(A)your people say, ^(B)‘The way of the Lord is not just,’ when it is their own way that is not just.

¹⁷ “Or ^(A)if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Let a sword pass through the land, ^(B)and I cut off from it man and beast,

¹¹ And go to the exiles, ^(A)to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(B)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^(C)whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

The Shepherd Struck

^27 (A)But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ^(B)‘Thus says the Lord God.’ ^(C)He who will hear, let him hear; and he who will refuse to hear, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

² And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^3 (B)I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^(C)the birds of the air ^(D)and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.