Ezekiel 34:11-36:27

English Standard Version

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

¹¹“For thus says the Lord God: ^(A)Behold, I, I ^(B)myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹²As 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 ^(C)a day of clouds and ^(D)thick darkness. ¹³And I will bring them out from the peoples ^(E)and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on ^(F)the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴^(G)I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. ^(H)There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵^(I)I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, ^(J)and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶^(K)I will seek the lost, ^(L)and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and ^(M)the fat and the strong I will destroy.^[a] I will feed them in justice.

¹⁷“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(N)Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and ^(O)male goats. ¹⁸Is 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 ^(P)clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? ¹⁹And 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. ²¹Because you push with side and shoulder, and ^(Q)thrust at all the ^(R)weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²²I will rescue^[b] my flock; ^(S)they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³And ^(T)I will set up over them one shepherd, ^(U)my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And ^(V)I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ^(W)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

²⁵^(X)“I will make with them a covenant of peace and ^(Y)banish wild beasts from the land, ^(Z)so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶And I will make them and the places all around my hill ^(AA)a blessing, and ^(AB)I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be ^(AC)showers of blessing. ²⁷^(AD)And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, ^(AE)and they shall be secure in their land. And ^(AF)they shall know that I am the Lord, when ^(AG)I break the bars of their yoke, and ^(AH)deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸^(AI)They shall no more be a prey to the nations, ^(AJ)nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. ^(AK)They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹And I will provide for them ^(AL)renowned plantations so that ^(AM)they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer ^(AN)suffer the reproach of the nations. ³⁰And they shall know that ^(AO)I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹And you are my sheep, ^(AP)human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”

Prophecy Against Mount Seir

35 The word of the Lord came to me: ²^(AQ)“Son of man, ^(AR)set your face ^(AS)against ^(AT)Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, ³and say to it, Thus says the Lord God: ^(AU)Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and ^(AV)I will stretch out my hand against you, ^(AW)and I will make you a desolation and a waste. ⁴^(AX)I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become a desolation, and you shall know that I am the Lord. ⁵Because ^(AY)you cherished perpetual enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword ^(AZ)at the time of their calamity, ^(BA)at the time of their final punishment, ⁶therefore, ^(BB)as I live, declares the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you; ^(BC)because you did not hate bloodshed, therefore blood shall pursue you. ⁷^(BD)I will make Mount Seir a waste ^(BE)and a desolation, and I will cut off from it ^(BF)all who come and go. ⁸And I will fill ^(BG)its mountains with the slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all ^(BH)your ravines ^(BI)those slain with the sword shall fall. ⁹^(BJ)I will make you a perpetual desolation, and ^(BK)your cities shall not be inhabited. Then ^(BL)you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰“Because you said, ^(BM)‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and ^(BN)we will take possession of them’—although the ^(BO)Lord was there— ¹¹therefore, ^(BP)as I live, declares the Lord God, I will deal with you ^(BQ)according to the anger and ^(BR)envy that you showed because of your hatred against them. And ^(BS)I will make myself known among them, when I judge you. ¹²And you shall know that I am the Lord.

^(BT)“I have heard all the revilings that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate; ^(BU)they are given us to devour.’ ¹³And ^(BV)you magnified yourselves against me ^(BW)with your mouth, and multiplied your words against me; I heard it. ¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: ^(BX)While the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. ¹⁵As you ^(BY)rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, ^(BZ)Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then ^(CA)they will know that I am the Lord.

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

36 “And you, ^(CB)son of man, prophesy to ^(CC)the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ²Thus says the Lord God: Because ^(CD)the enemy said of you, ^(CE)‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient ^(CF)heights have become our possession,’ ³therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because ^(CG)they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and ^(CH)you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, ⁴therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to ^(CI)the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, ^(CJ)the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become ^(CK)a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, ⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in ^(CL)my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and ^(CM)against all Edom, who ^(CN)gave my land to themselves as a possession ^(CO)with wholehearted joy and ^(CP)utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. ⁶Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to ^(CQ)the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: ^(CR)Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered ^(CS)the reproach of the nations. ⁷Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(CT)I swear that the nations that are all around you ^(CU)shall themselves suffer reproach.

⁸“But you, O mountains of Israel, ^(CV)shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for ^(CW)they will soon come home. ⁹For ^(CX)behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and ^(CY)you shall be tilled and sown. ¹⁰And ^(CZ)I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. ^(DA)The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. ¹¹And I will multiply on you ^(DB)man and beast, and ^(DC)they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in ^(DD)your former times, and ^(DE)will do more good to you than ever before. ^(DF)Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹²I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. ^(DG)And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer ^(DH)bereave them of children. ¹³Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ^(DI)‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ ¹⁴therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. ¹⁵And I will not let you hear anymore ^(DJ)the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”

The Lord's Concern for His Holy Name

¹⁶The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁷^(DK)“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, ^(DL)they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were ^(DM)like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. ¹⁸So ^(DN)I poured out my wrath upon them ^(DO)for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols ^(DP)with which they had defiled it. ¹⁹^(DQ)I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. ^(DR)In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. ²⁰But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, ^(DS)they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ ²¹But I had concern ^(DT)for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.

I Will Put My Spirit Within You

²²“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: ^(DU)It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, ^(DV)which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ²³^(DW)And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. ^(DX)And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. ²⁴^(DY)I will take you ^(DZ)from the nations and gather you from all the countries and ^(EA)bring you into your own land. ²⁵^(EB)I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from ^(EC)all your uncleannesses, and ^(ED)from all your idols ^(EE)I will cleanse you. ²⁶And I will give you ^(EF)a new heart, and ^(EG)a new spirit I will put within you. ^(EH)And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷^(EI)And I will put my Spirit within you, ^(EJ)and cause you to walk in my statutes and ^(EK)be careful to obey my rules.^[c]