Beginning
34 Then this message came to me from the Lord:
2 “Son of dust, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Say to them, ‘The Lord God says to you: Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves instead of their flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the best food and wear the finest clothes, but you let your flocks starve. 4 You haven’t taken care of the weak, nor tended the sick, nor bound up the broken bones, nor gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty. 5 So they were scattered, without a shepherd. They have become a prey to every animal that comes along. 6 My sheep wandered through the mountains and hills and over the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or care about them.
7 “‘Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, you abandoned my flock, leaving them to be attacked and destroyed, and you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn’t search for them. You fed yourselves and let them starve; 9-10 therefore, I am against the shepherds, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock—and take away their right to eat. I will save my flock from being taken for their food.’”
11 For the Lord God says: “I will search and find my sheep. 12 I will be like a shepherd looking for his flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places they were scattered in that dark and cloudy day. 13 And I will bring them back from among the people and nations where they were, back home to their own land of Israel, and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel and by the rivers where the land is fertile and good. 14 Yes, I will give them good pasture on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in peace and feed in luscious mountain pastures. 15-16 I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace,” the Lord God says. “I will seek my lost ones, those who strayed away, and bring them safely home again. I will put splints and bandages upon their broken limbs and heal the sick. And I will destroy the powerful, fat shepherds; I will feed them, yes—feed them punishment!
17 “And as for you, O my flock—my people,” the Lord God says, “I will judge you and separate good from bad, sheep from goats.
18 “Is it a small thing to you, O evil shepherds, that you not only keep the best of the pastures for yourselves, but trample down the rest? That you take the best water for yourselves and muddy the rest with your feet? 19 All that’s left for my flock is what you’ve trampled down; all they have to drink is water that you’ve fouled.”
20 Therefore the Lord God says: “I will surely judge between these fat shepherds and their scrawny sheep. 21 For these shepherds push and butt and crowd my sick and hungry flock until they’re scattered far away. 22 So I myself will save my flock; no more will they be picked on and destroyed. And I will notice which is plump and which is thin, and why!
23 “And I will set one Shepherd over all my people, even my Servant David. He shall feed them and be a Shepherd to them.
24 “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my Servant David shall be a Prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken it.
25 “I will make a peace pact with them and drive away the dangerous animals from the land, so that my people can safely camp in the wildest places and sleep safely in the woods. 26 I will make my people and their homes around my hill a blessing. And there shall be showers, showers of blessing, for I will not shut off the rains but send them in their seasons. 27 Their fruit trees and fields will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken off their chains of slavery and delivered them from those who profiteered at their expense, they shall know I am the Lord. 28 No more will other nations conquer them nor wild animals attack. They shall live in safety and no one shall make them afraid.
29 “And I will raise up a notable Vine (the Messiah),[a] in Israel so that my people will never again go hungry nor be shamed by heathen conquest. 30 In this way they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the people of Israel, are my people,” says the Lord God. 31 “You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my men and I am your God, so says the Lord.”
35 Again a message came from the Lord. He said:
2 “Son of dust, face toward Mount Seir and prophesy against the people saying, 3 ‘The Lord God says: I am against you, and I will smash you with my fist and utterly destroy you. 4-5 Because you hate my people Israel, I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you shall know I am the Lord. You butchered my people when they were helpless, when I had punished them for all their sins. 6 As I live, the Lord God says, since you enjoy blood so much, I will give you a blood bath—your turn has come! 7 I will utterly wipe out the people of Mount Seir, killing off all those who try to escape and all those who return. 8 I will fill your mountains with the dead—your hills, your valleys, and your rivers will be filled with those the sword has killed. 9 Never again will you revive. You will be abandoned forever; your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you shall know I am the Lord.
10 “‘For you said, “Both Israel and Judah shall be mine. We will take possession of them. What do we care that God is there!” 11 Therefore as I live, the Lord God says, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine—I will punish you for all your acts of envy and of hate. And I will honor my name in Israel by what I do to you. 12 And you shall know that I have heard each evil word you spoke against the Lord, saying, “His people are helpless; they are food for us to eat!” 13 Saying that, you boasted great words against the Lord. And I have heard them all!
14 “‘The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate. 15 You rejoiced at Israel’s fearful fate. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, O people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! And then you will know I am the Lord!’
36 “Son of dust, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Tell them: ‘Listen to this message from the Lord.
2 “‘Your enemies have sneered at you and claimed your ancient heights as theirs; 3 they have destroyed you on every side and sent you away as slaves to many lands. You are mocked and slandered. 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. He says to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys, and to the ruined farms and the long-deserted cities, destroyed and mocked by heathen nations all around: 5 My anger is afire against these nations, especially Edom, for grabbing my land with relish, in utter contempt for me, to take it for themselves.’
6 “Therefore prophesy and say to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord God says! I am full of fury because you suffered shame before the surrounding nations. 7 Therefore, I have sworn with hand held high that those nations are going to have their turn of being covered with shame, 8 but for Israel good times will return. There will be heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people’s return—and they will be coming home again soon! 9 See, I am for you, and I will come and help you as you prepare the ground and sow your crops. 10 I will greatly increase your population throughout all Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. 11 Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, again you will be filled with homes. I will do even more for you than I did before. Then you shall know I am the Lord. 12 My people will walk upon you once again, and you will belong to them again; and you will no longer be a place for burning their children on idol altars.’”
13 The Lord God says: “Now the other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours her people!’ 14 But they will not say this anymore. Your birthrate will rise, and your infant mortality rate will drop off sharply,” says the Lord. 15 “No longer will those heathen nations sneer, for you will no longer be a nation of sinners,” the Lord God says.
16 Then this further word came to me from the Lord:
17 “Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.[b] 18 They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them. 19 And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived. 20 But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, ‘These are the people of God and he couldn’t protect them from harm!’ 21 I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.
22 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you tarnished among the nations. 23 I will honor my great name, that you defiled, and the people of the world shall know I am the Lord. I will be honored before their eyes by delivering you from exile among them.[c] 24 For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.
25 “‘Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean—your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone. 26 And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.[d] 27 And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
28 “‘And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will cleanse away your sins. I will abolish crop failures and famine. 30 I will give you huge harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31 Then you will remember your past sins and loathe yourselves for all the evils you did. 32 But always remember this: It is not for your own sakes that I will do this, but for mine. O my people Israel, be utterly ashamed of all that you have done!’”
33 The Lord God says: “When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins. 34 Acreage will be cultivated again that through the years of exile lay empty as a barren wilderness; all who passed by were shocked to see the extent of ruin in your land. 35 But when I bring you back, they will say, ‘This God-forsaken land has become like Eden’s garden! The ruined cities are rebuilt and walled and filled with people!’ 36 Then the nations all around—all those still left—will know that I, the Lord, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the Lord, have promised it, and I will do it.”
37-38 The Lord God says: “I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings and to grant them their requests. Let them but ask, and I will multiply them like the flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of sacrifice. The ruined cities will be crowded once more, and everyone will know I am the Lord.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.