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The fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. must confound Ezekiel. While he is, of course, devastated by the destruction of his homeland and the deaths of his countrymen, their defeat vindicates him and his life’s work. Everyone now knows that Ezekiel is a true prophet of God, and his years of suffering to bring his fellow exiles God’s message are rewarded by the people fawning over him. Unfortunately, the people’s sudden attention to Ezekiel’s words is akin to a person’s adoration of his favorite entertainer. They love to be in his presence, but they take him no more seriously than they ever have. Ezekiel’s popularity will be short-lived.
34 The word of the Eternal came to me with a message for Israel’s leaders.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, preach against Israel’s shepherds! Speak directly to the shepherds and tell them this is what the Eternal Lord has to say: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel whose only concern is to protect and nourish themselves! Isn’t a shepherd’s job to look after the sheep? 3 Yet you exploit them in every way. You devour their fat, make soft clothes and blankets out of their wool, and slaughter the best sheep for your table. Meanwhile you don’t take care of the sheep at all. 4 You have not sought to nurse the weak. You have not gone out to tend to the sick. You have not bandaged the injured. You don’t bring back the strays or look for the lost. You have led them with neglect, ruled them with harshness, shepherded them with cruelty! 5 They had no real shepherd, so they have scattered; the entire flock was prey for wild beasts. 6 My sheep drifted aimlessly through all the mountains and up and down every hill. My flock was scattered all over the world, scattered like the stars in the night sky, and not a single shepherd went looking for them.”
God condemns the shepherd-rulers of Israel for neglecting their duties and exploiting their human flock. Heaven will not remain silent at this injustice. A change is coming.
7 Now pay attention, shepherds, to My word: 8 As surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, because My sheep are without a shepherd, because they have become prey for all the wild beasts to feed upon, because my shepherds have not gone in search of My sheep but have only looked out for themselves and not watched after and cared for My flock; 9 I encourage you, shepherds, to listen to the word of the Eternal.
10-11 Those self-centered shepherds are My enemies! As far as I am concerned, they are no longer shepherds. They will not help themselves to My sheep any longer. I will recover My flock from those corrupt shepherds. I will snatch My sheep from their mouths! My sheep will no longer provide milk, clothing, or meat to them. I will personally go out searching for My sheep. I will find them wherever they are, and I will look after them. 12 In the same way one shepherd seeks after, cares for, and watches over his scattered flock, so will I be the guardian of My sheep. I will be their Rescuer! No matter where they have scattered, I will go to find them. I will bring them back from the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day. 13-14 I will call them out from the nations, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them in the high mountain pastures and meadows of Israel. I will feed them on good pastures; they will graze on the mountain heights of Israel. They will lie down to rest on this good ground, and they will feed on succulent grasses in bountiful pastures on the slopes of Israel’s sanctuary mountains. 15 I Myself will watch over My sheep and feed My flock. Whenever they are tired, I will lead them to rest on the cool mountain grass. 16 When they are lost, I will seek them and bring back every last stray. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. However, I will destroy the fat and powerful. I will feed them a healthy portion of judgment.
17 As for you, My flock, this is what the Eternal Lord has to say: “Watch carefully! I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and male goats.” 18 Are you not satisfied grazing in blooming pastures, feasting off rich mountain lands? Do you have to trample all of the pastures with your feet? Are you not satisfied drinking out of clear mountain streams? Do you have to muddy all of the mountain streams with your feet? 19 Why should the rest of My flock have to graze on trampled pastures and drink from muddied streams because of your careless feet?
20 So this is what the Eternal Lord has to say to them: “Watch carefully! I will personally judge between the fat sheep and the skinny sheep.” 21 Because you fat sheep bully the weak, push them around, and threaten them with your horns until you scatter them to distant mountains, 22 I will step in and save them. I will rescue them, and they will no longer be hunted and hassled. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will designate one shepherd over the entire flock: My faithful servant, David. He will watch over them and care for them. He will be their shepherd. 24 I, the Eternal, will be their God; and My faithful servant, David, will be their prince.
I, the Eternal One, have spoken.
25 I will establish a covenant of peace with them and drive away all the dangerous wild animals from the land. Then they will be able to live safely in the wilderness and sleep soundly in the forests. 26 I will make them and the area around My holy hill a blessing. At My direction, there will be plenty of rainfall when it is needed. There will be showers of blessing! 27 The trees of the fields and orchards will bear abundant fruit, the soil of the fields will produce ample crops, and My people will rest securely within their land. They will know that I am the Eternal when I destroy the dominion of their oppressors and liberate them from those who made them slaves. 28 Foreign powers won’t ravage them anymore, and wild beasts will no longer feast on their flesh. They’ll be safe and free and fearless. 29 I will make their land famous for its beauty and productivity. Never again will famine strike their land. Never again will other nations sneer at them. 30 They will know that I, the Eternal One their God, am on their side and that they, the people of Israel, are My people.
After God declares His opposition to the shepherd-rulers who neglected and exploited their human flock, God pledges to get involved personally. He will search for the lost sheep, return the strays, and care for them tenderly back in the beautiful land of Israel, the land of promise.
But in God’s human flock are trouble and competition. Even as God lovingly supplies His flock with plenty of good food, clear water, and pleasant pastures, some trample what they can’t control and foul what they can’t consume. Some bully and push their weight around, while others move aside or run for the hills. Again God sees the problem and promises to step in, personally, to rescue His hassled people and put an end to injustice. So God promises to send another shepherd-ruler, in the spirit of King David, who will love and care for the flock as God Himself does. This Davidic shepherd will be unlike the wicked, neglectful shepherd-rulers in Israel’s past; this son of David will rule as their prince in submission to Israel’s one True God.
But there is more. In the final movement of this oracle, God announces a new covenant—a covenant of peace. Its scope is beyond human community and politics. It is a renewal of life in the land of Israel and, by extension, in the rest of creation.
The Eternal said this, 31 then added,
Eternal One: As for you, you are My sheep, the human flock of My pasture, and I am your God.
35 The word of the Eternal came to me with a message for Edom.
Eternal One: 2 Son of man, turn toward Mount Seir and preach against it. 3 Tell the Edomites that this is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Pay attention! I oppose you, Mount Seir!
I will raise My hand against you, strike you,
and leave you an empty wasteland.
4 I will turn your cities to rubble,
and you will lie desolate and deserted.
Then you will know that I am the Eternal One.
5 You held an old grudge against the Israelites, and you handed them over to death and defeat when they were in the midst of disaster, at a crucial moment of their final punishment.
Israel has no more implacable enemy than Edom. As the descendants of Esau, whose brother Jacob stole his birthright and his father’s blessing, the Edomites view the Israelites as illegitimate rulers and thieves. So shortly after Nebuchadnezzar razes Jerusalem in 586 b.c., Edom seizes its opportunity for revenge and swoops in to fill the political vacuum that results. The Edomites are not operating as God’s instruments. They attack Israel out of their own greed, thinking no one is left to oppose them. They are wrong. The land of Israel never belongs to the people themselves; it belongs to God. When the Edomites sneak in to pillage the land of Israel, they find the stewards of the land gone or severely weakened, but the true Owner is at home and is ready to prosecute them for their actions.
Eternal One: 6 As surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, what you have given, you will receive! I will hand you over to bloodshed, and it will come after you. Because you have been quick to shed blood, I will make your blood flow! 7 I will leave Mount Seir an empty wasteland and destroy any who come and go. 8 I will spread your corpses upon the mountains; all those slaughtered in battle will fill the hills and valleys and riverbeds! 9 I will turn you into an eternal wasteland; your cities and towns will lie empty and silent. Then you will know that I am the Eternal.
10 You keep saying, “We will take possession of these two countries and two nations—Israel and Judah. We will own them.” And you have the nerve to say this right in front of Me! 11 Consequently, as surely as I, the Eternal Lord, live, the rage and jealousy you have shown as a result of your hatred of them will be returned to you. When I judge you, I will show them who I am and remind them they are still mine. 12 When that day arrives, you will know that I, the Eternal One, have overheard all the despicable threats you made against Israel’s mountains: “They’re nothing but rubble! They’re as good as ours; let’s take what we want!” 13 You said so many haughty things against Me, and I heard every word of it.
14 This is what the Eternal God has to say.
Eternal One: While everyone else in the world sings songs and has happy feasts, I will leave you empty and desolate. 15 Since you celebrated the destruction of the land Israel was meant to inherit, I’m going to treat you the same way. O Mount Seir, you and the rest of Edom will be turned into an empty wasteland! Then you will know that I am the Eternal One.
36 Eternal One: Son of man, preach to Israel’s mountains. Tell them to heed the word of the Eternal.
2 Here is what the Eternal Lord has to say:
Eternal One: The enemy rejoiced over you and said, “Finally! The ancient highlands are ours.” 3 Because they rejoiced, I, the Eternal Lord, say, “Your enemies crushed you from every side and left you nothing but an empty wasteland. They have carried you off in pieces, divided you up, and made you a remnant among the nations; and you became the topic of everyone’s gossip and malicious attacks.”
4 Because of this, you mountains of Israel, heed the word of the Eternal Lord. The Eternal Lord says this to the ancient mountains and hills, to the riverbeds and valleys, and to the empty wasteland and deserted cities that have been plundered and mocked by every nation around you.
Eternal One: 5 With fiery passion I have spoken against the rest of the nations, but most especially to Edom, who with malicious joy took My precious land for themselves and divided it up as their spoil. 6 Therefore speak out about the land of Israel to the ancient mountains and hills and rivers and valleys.
The Eternal Lord gave this message to me.
Eternal One: Look! I have spoken with fiery anger and jealousy because you have been scoffed at by the nations. 7 Therefore, I, the Eternal Lord, lift My hand and swear to you that those nations around you will suffer as you have; they’ll be mocked and put to shame.
8 But you, Israel’s mountains, will shoot forth new branches and bear fruit for My people Israel. They will be home soon. 9 I, of course, care about you and will turn My attention on you. Therefore, your soil will be plowed and your fields sown. 10 I will increase the population and replenish the whole community of Israel. I will bring life back into the desolate cities, and heaps of rubble will be turned into grand structures. 11 I will increase the population of people and animals that live on your slopes once again; they will be more numerous, and you will become more productive than ever before! After all these things come to pass, you will know that I am the Eternal. 12 I will settle My people Israel on you, and they will possess you, and you will be the land they pass from one generation to the next. You will never again take their children.
13 This is what the Eternal Lord said.
Eternal One: Because some say, “The land of Israel is known for devouring its people and depriving them of their children,” 14 I declare that you will never devour any of My people again or deprive them of their children. 15 I will see to it that you do not have to listen to the other nations scoff at you anymore, and you will no longer suffer humiliation or be the cause of your own nation’s faltering.
So said the Eternal.
16 Again the word of the Eternal came to me.
Eternal One: 17 Son of man, when Israel’s people lived in their own land, they desecrated it with their foul lifestyles. Their actions were as impure as a woman’s menstrual cycle. 18 Because they infected the land, pouring out innocent blood and filling their hearts and homes with idols, I poured out My wrath upon them. 19 I scattered them among the nations and dispersed them through many lands. I judged them based on their lifestyles and actions. 20 Whenever they settled among the nations of their exile, they defiled My sacred name. Everywhere they went people were saying, “These are the Eternal’s people, yet they have been forced out of His land.” 21 I became concerned for My sacred name, for everywhere they went the people of Israel were giving Me a bad name.
22 Consequently, tell the people of Israel that the Eternal Lord says, “When I act, people of Israel, it won’t be for your own good, but for the sake of salvaging My own reputation, which you have slandered in front of those outside our covenant.[a] 23 I will restore My great name to its holy state which has been desecrated in every nation by you! After all these things come to pass and I reveal My holiness through you right before their eyes, then these nations will know that I am the Eternal. 24 I will take you away from the nations, gather you from all the foreign soils, and bring you back to your own land. 25 I will sprinkle you with clean water, and you will be clean. I will wash away all of your dirtiness, and you will be clean and pure, free from the taint of idols. 26 I will plant a new heart and new spirit inside of you. I will take out your stubborn, stony heart and give you a willing, tender heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit inside of you and inspire you to live by My statutes and follow My laws. 28 Then you will live in the same land I gave your ancestors; you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29-30 I will rescue you from your impurity. I will summon the grain to produce large harvests and never bring a famine upon you again. I will increase your harvests of fruit and grain, so that you will never have to face the disgrace of famine again among the nations. 31 Then you will recall your evil ways and wicked deeds. You will recognize how bad they were and hate yourselves for all the shocking and despicable things you did! 32 But I, the Eternal Lord, am not doing this for your own good. You should still feel shame and humiliation for all you’ve done, people of Israel!”
33 This is what the Eternal Lord has to say.
Eternal One: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will bring people back into your desolate cities, and heaps of rubble will be turned into grand structures. 34 The wasteland will be plowed and sown—a vast change from the emptiness those passing by are used to seeing. 35 They will be amazed, saying, “This place used to be an empty wasteland. Now it’s like the garden of Eden! The cities were demolished, lying in ruins and completely abandoned. Now they are all restored, strong and full of people!” 36 Then the nations near you will know that I, the Eternal, am the One who rebuilt and restored the ruined cities and replanted the empty wilderness. I, the Eternal One, promise to do exactly what I’ve said.
37 This is what the Eternal Lord has to say.
Eternal One: I will soothe Israel’s desire and do as they have asked Me to do: I will make their population grow like a flock of sheep. 38 Just as flocks of sheep fill Jerusalem before the sacrifices at the public feasts, the cities filled with rubble will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Eternal One.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.