Beginning
Israel's leaders are like shepherds
34 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, you must speak my message to the shepherds of Israel to warn them.[a] Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to you shepherds of Israel who only think about yourselves. Shepherds should take care of the sheep and feed them. 3 You drink their milk and you use their wool to make clothes for yourselves. You kill the best animals to eat. But you do not take care of the sheep! 4 You have not helped the weak sheep to be strong. You have not made the sick sheep well. Nor have you covered their wounds. You have not looked for lost sheep and brought them back. Instead, you have ruled my people in a cruel way. 5 So my sheep ran away to different places because they did not have a shepherd to take care of them. Then the wild animals found them and ate them. 6 My sheep went over all the mountains and the high hills. They went to places everywhere on the earth. And nobody went to look for them and bring them back again.
7 So, you shepherds, listen to the Lord's message. 8 My sheep do not have any shepherds to take care of them. So they are not safe from danger. They have become food for all the wild animals. You, my shepherds, have not gone to look for the sheep that were lost. You only wanted to help yourselves instead of my sheep. So I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live. 9 You shepherds, listen to the Lord's message! 10 The Almighty Lord says this: I have become the shepherds' enemy. I will take my sheep away from them. I will no longer allow them to be shepherds. They will not be able to kill my sheep to feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep, so that the shepherds cannot eat them.
11 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I myself will go and look for my sheep to bring them back. 12 I will be like a shepherd who looks everywhere to find his lost sheep. I will find them and I will rescue them. I will bring them back from the places that they have run away to. It was a dark day with many clouds when they ran away. 13 They have been living in foreign countries among other people. I will bring them back to live in their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel. They will eat beside its rivers and in all the places where people live. 14 I will feed them in fields on Israel's mountains where grass grows. They will lie down in the good fields. They will eat the green grass that grows on the mountains. 15 I myself will take care of my sheep. I will give them safe places to lie down and rest. I, the Almighty Lord, say this. 16 I will find the lost sheep and I will bring them back. I will cover their wounds. I will help those who are weak to become strong. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will give them justice as their food!
17 This is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to you, my sheep: I will judge you. I will decide which of you are good and which of you are bad. I will judge between male sheep and goats. 18 You bad sheep make sure that you have plenty of good grass to eat. But then you spoil the other grass so that no other sheep can eat it. You have clean water to drink. But then you spoil the water which remains. It is too dirty for other sheep to drink. 19 Because of that, my sheep eat grass that you have spoiled. They drink water that you have made dirty with your feet.
20 So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to the sheep: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. 21 You fat sheep use your shoulders to push the other sheep away. You attack the weak sheep with your horns so that they run away. 22 Because you do this, I will rescue my sheep. They will no longer be in danger from other animals. I will judge between one sheep and another sheep.
23 Then I will choose one shepherd to lead them. He is my servant, David. He will take care of them as their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God. My servant David will be their ruler. I, the Lord, have said this.[b]
25 I will make an agreement with them, that I will give them peace. I will remove the dangerous wild animals from the land. Then they can live there safely, even in the wilderness. They will not be afraid when they sleep in the forests. 26 I will bless them with many good things as they live around my holy hill. I will send rain at the proper time each year. The rain will bring my blessings to them. 27 The trees in the fields will give them fruit to eat. Crops of food will grow in the ground. The people will live safely in their land. I will take away the power of those who were cruel to them. I will rescue them from the people who made them their slaves. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 28 They will no longer be in danger from other nations. Wild animals will no longer eat them. They will live safely and nobody will cause them to be afraid. 29 I will give them a land that is famous for its good crops. So famine will never cause them to suffer in that land. Other nations will no longer insult them. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. They will know that they are my people, the Israelites. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
31 You are my people and I take care of you, as a shepherd takes care of his sheep. You are my people and I am your God. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
The Lord's message to Edom
35 The Lord gave this message to me: 2 ‘Son of man, look towards Mount Seir.[c] Then speak my message to warn it. 3 Say to it, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Listen! I am your enemy, Mount Seir. I will attack you, so that you become like a desert. 4 I will destroy your towns. They will become heaps of stones where nobody lives. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
5 You have always hated Israel's people. Because of that, you did not help them when their enemy attacked them and killed them. They were in great trouble when I punished them for their sins.[d] 6 So I, the Almighty Lord, promise you this, as surely as I live. I will allow your enemies to kill you. If you run away from them, they will chase you and kill you. You were happy to see an enemy kill my people, so an enemy will kill you also. 7 I will make Mount Seir become like a desert where nobody lives. I will destroy anyone who travels through that place. 8 Dead bodies will lie all over your mountains. The bodies of men who have died in battle will lie on your hills and in your valleys. 9 I will make you a desert for ever and nobody will live in your towns. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
10 You said, ‘We will take these two nations for ourselves. Israel and Judah will belong to us.’ You said that when I, the Lord, was there with them. 11 So I promise that I will punish you, as surely as I live. That is what the Almighty Lord says. Because you were angry and jealous, you hated my people, So I will punish you as you deserve. When I judge you, my people will know who I am. 12 Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard you. You have insulted the mountains of Israel. You said, ‘Those mountains have become a desert. So we can take them for ourselves.’ 13 You said many proud things to insult me. You thought that you were greater than me. I heard everything that you said!
14 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I will make your land become a desert. All the people in the world will be very happy when they see this. 15 You were happy when you saw me punish Israel's people so that their land became a desert. Because you were happy, I will punish you as you deserve. Mount Seir and all the land of Edom will become an empty desert. Then Edom's people will know that I am the Lord.” ’
A prophecy to the mountains of Israel
36 The Lord said, ‘Son of man, speak my message to the mountains of Israel. Say to them: “Listen to the Lord's message, you mountains of Israel. 2 This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your enemies have laughed at you. They have said, ‘The old mountains now belong to us!’ ”
3 So now prophesy to those mountains. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Your enemies attacked you from every side. They won against you, so that you belonged to other nations. People talked about you and they insulted you.
4 Because of this, mountains of Israel, listen to this message from me, the Almighty Lord. I say this to the hills, the mountains and the valleys. I say this to the empty places and the towns that have become heaps of stones where nobody lives. This has caused the nations around you to laugh at you and insult you.
5 So this is what the Almighty Lord says: I am very angry with those nations and I will punish them. I am even more angry with the people of Edom because they insulted my people. They were happy to take my land for themselves so that their animals could eat the grass.”
6 So prophesy to the hills and mountains of Israel, and to its valleys. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am very angry because the nations around you have caused you to be ashamed. 7 So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say: I make a strong promise that those nations will soon be ashamed themselves.
8 But I say this to you mountains of Israel. Trees will grow on you again and crops will provide much food for my people. My people will soon come home. 9 I am your friend and I will take care of you. Men will plough your ground and they will plant seeds in it. 10 I will cause more and more Israelite people to live on you, and in all the land. They will live in the towns and they will repair the broken buildings. 11 I will make more and more people and animals live on you. They will give birth to many young ones, so that they grow in number. I will cause many people to live on you, as they did a long time ago. I will help you with more good things than you had when you first became a land for my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will cause my people, the Israelites, to walk on you. You will belong to them as the place where they and their descendants live. You will never again cause their children to die.
13 This is what the Almighty Lord says: People are saying to you, Israel's land, ‘You destroy people. You take away the nation's children.’ 14 So now I, the Almighty Lord, tell you this: You will no longer destroy people or take away the nation's children. 15 People from other nations will no longer insult you or laugh at you. You will no longer cause your nation to suffer. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
16 The Lord gave this message to me: 17 ‘Son of man, Israel's people made their own land unclean when they lived there. They lived in a bad way and they did bad things. It made them unclean, like a woman when she bleeds each month. 18 So I punished them with my great anger. I punished them because they murdered people on their land. And they made the land unclean with idols that they worshipped. 19 I sent them to live among people of other nations in foreign countries. I punished them as they deserved for the bad things that they did.
20 But among the nations where they went, they continued to bring shame to my holy name. People said, “These are the Lord's people, but they had to leave the land that he gave to them.” 21 I wanted them to give honour to my holy name. Instead, Israel's people brought me shame among the nations where they went.
22 So you must say to Israel's people, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will help you, Israel's people. But it is not because you deserve it. I will do it so that people give honour to my holy name. You brought me shame among the nations where you went. 23 Now I will show them that my name is great and holy. You brought shame to my name. But I will help you so that the nations can see that I am great. When I do that, they will know that I am the Lord. That is what I, the Almighty Lord, say.
24 I will take you out from the nations and all the foreign countries where you have been living. I will bring you back to your own land. 25 You will become pure, as if I splash you with clean water. I will remove all the things that make you unclean. I will take away the idols that you worship. 26 I will give you new thoughts. I will put a new spirit in you. You will no longer refuse to obey me. Instead, you will want to please me. 27 I will put my Spirit in you, so that you obey my commands. You will be careful to obey my laws.
28 At that time, you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors. You will be my people and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all the things that made you unclean. I will cause the land to give you plenty of grain to eat. You will no longer have any famines. 30 The trees will provide plenty of fruit. And crops will grow well in the fields. Other nations will no longer make you feel ashamed because you have no food to eat. 31 Then you will remember the evil way that you lived. You will remember the bad things that you did. You will be ashamed of yourselves because of the sins and the disgusting things that you did. 32 I want you to know that I am not doing this because you deserve it. You should be ashamed, Israel's people. You should feel sorry for the things that you have done. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
33 This is what the Almighty Lord says: At that time, I will make you clean from all your sins. When I do that, I will send you back to live in your towns. You will build your houses again that had become heaps of stones. 34 You will plough the empty land again to provide food. People who travel there will no longer think that the land is useless. 35 They will say, ‘This land was like a desert, but now it is like the Garden of Eden.[e] People now live in the cities that had become heaps of stones. The cities now have strong walls.’ 36 Then the nations that still live around you will see what has happened. They will know that I, the Lord, have mended the broken cities. They will know that I have planted crops again in the fields that were empty. I, the Lord, have said this, and I will do it!”
37-38 This is what the Almighty Lord says: I will listen to what Israel's people are asking me to do for them. I will allow them to grow in number, like a big crowd of sheep. They will be as many as the sheep that people brought to Jerusalem as offerings at a festival. I will fill the broken cities with crowds of people, as many as those sheep. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.