Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

The Watchman’s Duty

33 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the ^(A)sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^(B)blows the ^[a]horn and warns the people, ⁴ then ^[b]someone who hears the sound of the horn but ^(C)does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his ^(D)blood will be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the horn but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have ^(E)saved his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is ^(F)taken away for his wrongdoing; but I will ^[c]require his ^(G)blood from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, I have ^[d](H)appointed you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a ^[e]message from My mouth and give them a ^(I)warning from Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will ^(J)certainly die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way, that wicked person shall die for his wrongdoing, but I will ^[f]require his blood from your hand. ⁹ But if you on your part warn a wicked person to turn from his way and he ^(K)does not turn from his way, he will die for his wrongdoing, but you have ^(L)saved your life.

¹⁰ “Now as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what you have ^[g]said: “Surely our offenses and our sins are upon us, and we are ^(M)rotting away in them; ^(N)how then can we ^[h]survive?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘^(O)As I live!’ declares the Lord ^[i]God, ‘I take ^(P)no pleasure at all in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked ^(Q)turn from his way and live. ^(R)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then should you die, house of Israel?’ ¹² And you, son of man, say to ^[j]your fellow citizens, ‘The ^(S)righteousness of a righteous one will not save him on the day of his offense, and as for the wickedness of a wicked one, he will ^(T)not stumble because of it on the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous one will not be able to live ^[k]by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous that he will certainly live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he ^(U)commits injustice, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but for that same injustice of his which he has committed he will die. ¹⁴ But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will certainly die,’ and he ^(V)turns from his sin and practices ^(W)justice and righteousness, ¹⁵ if a wicked person returns a pledge, ^(X)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(Y)statutes ^[l]which ensure life without committing injustice, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. ^16 (Z)None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall certainly live.

¹⁷ “Yet ^[m]your fellow citizens say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and ^(AA)commits injustice, then he shall die in ^[n]it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘^(AB)The way of the Lord is not right.’ I will judge each of you according to his ways, house of Israel.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

²¹ Now ^(AC)in the ^(AD)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the survivor from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “^(AE)The city has been ^[o]taken.” ²² Now the ^(AF)hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the survivors came. And He ^(AG)opened my mouth ^[p]at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(AH)opened and I was no longer ^[q]speechless.

²³ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, they who ^(AI)live in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘^(AJ)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(AK)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “You eat meat with the ^(AL)blood in it, raise your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(AM)Should you then possess the land? ²⁶ You ^[r](AN)rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ ²⁷ You shall say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: “As I live, those who are in the places of ruins certainly will ^(AO)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^[s]open field I will give to the animals to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(AP)caves will die of plague. ²⁸ And I will ^(AQ)make the land a desolation and a waste, and the ^(AR)pride of her power will be brought to an end; and the mountains of Israel will be deserted so that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.”’

³⁰ “But as for you, son of man, ^[t]your fellow citizens who talk with one another about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak one with another, each with his brother, saying, ‘^(AS)Come now and hear what the ^[u]message is that comes from the Lord.’ ³¹ And they come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them; for they do the lustful desires expressed by their ^(AT)mouth, and their heart follows their unlawful ^(AU)gain. ³² And behold, you are to them like a love song by one who has a ^(AV)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. ³³ So when it ^(AW)comes—^[v]as it certainly will—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(A)shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[a]those shepherds, ‘This is what the Lord ^[b]God says: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[c](B)feeding themselves! Should the shepherds not ^[d](C)feed the flock? ³ You ^(D)eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you ^(E)slaughter the fat sheep ^[e]without feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, ^(F)the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you ^(G)searched for the lost; but with force and with violence you have ^[f]dominated them. ⁵ They ^(H)scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became ^(I)food for every animal of the field and scattered. ⁶ My flock ^(J)strayed through all the mountains and on every high hill; ^(K)My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was ^(L)no one to search or seek for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “certainly, because My flock has become ^(M)plunder, and My flock has become food for all the animals of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am ^(N)against the shepherds, and I will demand My ^[g]sheep ^[h]from them and make them ^(O)stop tending sheep. So the shepherds will not ^[i]feed themselves anymore, but I will ^(P)save My sheep from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ For the Lord God says this: “Behold, I Myself will ^(Q)search for My sheep and look after them. ^12 (R)As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered ^[j]sheep, so I will ^(S)care for My ^[k]sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a ^(T)cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ^(U)feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ^(V)streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a ^(W)good pasture, and their grazing place will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in a good grazing place and feed in ^[l](X)rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I Myself will ^(Y)feed My flock and I Myself will ^[m]lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the ^(Z)fat and the strong I will eliminate. I will ^(AA)feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to ^(AB)judge between one ^[n]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it too ^(AC)little a thing for you to feed in the good pasture, that you must trample with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or too little for you to drink the clear waters, that you must muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ But as for My flock, they must eat what you trample with your feet, and drink what you muddy with your feet!’”

²⁰ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: “Behold, I, I Myself will also judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Since you push away with your side and shoulder, and ^(AD)gore all the ^[o]weak with your horns until you have scattered them ^[p]abroad, ²² therefore, I will ^(AE)save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will ^(AF)appoint over them one ^(AG)shepherd, My servant ^(AH)David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant ^(AI)David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “And I will make a ^(AJ)covenant of peace with them and ^(AK)eliminate harmful animals from the land, so that they may ^(AL)live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places around My hill a ^(AM)blessing. And I will make ^(AN)showers fall in their season; they will be showers of ^(AO)blessing. ²⁷ Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be ^(AP)secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(AQ)broken the bars of their yoke and have saved them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the animals of the earth will not devour them; but they will ^(AR)live securely, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will establish for them a ^(AS)renowned planting place, and they will ^(AT)not again be ^[q]victims of famine in the land, and they will not ^(AU)endure the insults of the nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that ^(AV)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God. ³¹ “As for you, My ^(AW)sheep, ^[r]the ^(AX)sheep of My pasture, you are mankind, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.

Prophecy against Mount Seir

35 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face against ^(A)Mount Seir, and prophesy against it ³ and say to it, ‘This is what the Lord ^[a]God says:

⁵ Since you have had everlasting ^(E)hostility and have turned over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the ^[b](F)punishment of the end, ⁶ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will certainly ^[c]doom you to ^(G)bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will eliminate from it one who passes through and returns. ⁸ I will ^(H)fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. ⁹ I will make you a permanent ^(I)desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “Since you have ^(J)said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess ^[d]them,’ although the ^(K)Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you ^(L)according to your anger and according to your envy which you displayed because of your hatred for them; so I will ^(M)make Myself known among them when I judge you. ¹² Then you will know ^[e]that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are desolate; they have been ^(N)given to us as food.’ ¹³ And you have ^[f](O)spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; ^(P)I Myself have heard it.” ¹⁴ This is what the Lord God says: “As all the ^(Q)earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. ¹⁵ As you ^(R)rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, ^(S)so I will do to you. You will be a ^(T)desolation, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’

Babylon Is Fallen

18 After these things I saw another ^(A)angel ^(B)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was ^(C)illuminated from his glory. ² And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “^[a](D)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She ^(E)has become a dwelling place of demons and a ^[b]prison of every ^(F)unclean spirit, and a ^[c]prison of every unclean and hateful bird. ³ For all the nations have fallen because of the ^(G)wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and ^(H)the kings of the earth have committed acts of sexual immorality with her, and the ^(I)merchants of the earth have become rich from the ^[d]excessive wealth of her ^[e](J)luxury.”

⁴ I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “^(K)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues; ⁵ for her sins have ^[f](L)piled up as high as heaven, and God has ^(M)remembered her offenses. ^6 (N)Pay her back even as she has paid, and ^[g]give back to her double according to her deeds; in the ^(O)cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. ^7 (P)To the extent that she glorified herself and ^(Q)lived luxuriously, to the same extent give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘^(R)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ ⁸ For this reason ^(S)in one day her plagues will come, ^[h]plague and mourning and famine, and she will be ^(T)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her ^(U)is strong.

Grief over Babylon

⁹ “And ^(V)the kings of the earth, who committed acts of sexual immorality and ^(W)lived luxuriously with her, will ^(X)weep and mourn over her when they ^(Y)see the smoke of her burning, ^10 (Z)standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘^(AA)Woe, woe, ^(AB)the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in ^(AC)one hour your judgment has come.’

¹¹ “And the ^(AD)merchants of the earth ^(AE)weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— ¹² cargo of ^(AF)gold, silver, precious ^[i]stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet; every kind of citron wood, every article of ivory, and every article made from very valuable wood, ^[j]bronze, iron, and marble; ¹³ cinnamon, ^[k]spice, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, and cargo of horses, carriages, ^[l]slaves, and ^(AG)human lives. ¹⁴ The fruit ^[m]you long for has left you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and people will no longer find them. ¹⁵ The ^(AH)merchants of ^(AI)these things, who became rich from her, will ^(AJ)stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, ¹⁶ saying, ‘^(AK)Woe, woe, ^(AL)the great city, she who ^(AM)was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and ^[n]adorned with gold, precious ^[o]stones, and pearls; ¹⁷ for in ^(AN)one hour such great wealth has been laid ^(AO)waste!’ And ^(AP)every shipmaster and every ^[p]passenger and sailor, and all who ^[q]make their living by the sea, ^(AQ)stood at a distance, ¹⁸ and were ^(AR)crying out as they ^(AS)saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘^(AT)What city is like ^(AU)the great city?’ ¹⁹ And they threw ^(AV)dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘^(AW)Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea ^(AX)became rich from her prosperity, for in ^(AY)one hour she has been laid ^(AZ)waste!’ ^20 (BA)Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you ^[r]saints and ^(BB)apostles and prophets, because ^(BC)God has ^[s]pronounced judgment for you against her.”

²¹ Then ^[t]a ^(BD)strong angel ^(BE)picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, ^(BF)the great city, be thrown down with violence, and ^(BG)will never be found again. ²² And ^(BH)the sound of harpists, musicians, flute players, and trumpeters will never be heard in you again; and no craftsman of any craft will ever be found in you again; and the ^(BI)sound of a mill will never be heard in you again; ²³ and the light of a lamp will never shine in you again; and the ^(BJ)voice of the groom and bride will never be heard in you again; for your ^(BK)merchants were the powerful people of the earth, because all the nations were deceived ^(BL)by your witchcraft. ²⁴ And in her was found the ^(BM)blood of prophets and of ^[u]saints, and of ^(BN)all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”