Chronological
Lamentations for Pharaoh
32 On the first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year, the word of Adonai came to me saying: 2 “Son of man, lift up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
‘You compare yourself to a young lion of the nations,
but you are a crocodile in the waters.
You thrash about in your rivers
and muddy the water with your feet
and foul their streams.’”
3 Thus says Adonai Elohim:
“I will throw My net over you
with a host of many peoples.
They will haul you up in My net.
4 I will leave you on the land.
I will hurl you on an open field.
I will cause all the birds of the sky to settle upon you.
I will gorge the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains
and fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 I will drench the land with the flow of your blood up to the hills.
The ravines will be full of you.
7 When I extinguish you,
I will cover the sky and darken the stars.
I will cover the sun with cloud,
and the moon will not give her light.[a]
8 I will darken all of heaven’s bright lights over you
and set darkness on your land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
9 “I will disturb the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction among the nations,
into lands you have not known.
10 I will make many people appalled at you.
Their kings will be totally aghast at you
when I brandish My sword over you.
They will shudder every moment,
every man for his own life,
on the day of your downfall.”
11 For thus says Adonai Elohim:
“The sword of the king of Babylon
will come upon you.
12 By the swords of the mighty
I will cause your multitude to fall.
They are all ruthless among the nations.
They will devastate the pride of Egypt.
All of its multitude will be annihilated.
13 I will destroy all the beasts from beside plentiful water.
No human foot will muddy them again,
nor will hoofs of beasts muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle
and make their streams flow like oil.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
15 “When I make the land of Egypt desolate
and waste when it was previously full,
when I strike all that live there,
they will know that I am Adonai.
16 This is the funeral song—chant it,
daughters of the nations, chant for Egypt.
All her multitude will chant it.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
17 On the fifteenth day of the month in the twelfth year, the word of Adonai came to me saying:
18 “Son of man, wail over Egypt’s throng.
Bring them down
—her and the daughters of lofty nations,
to the underworld,
to those who go down to the pit.
19 Who do you surpass in beauty?
Go down, lie with the uncircumcised.
20 They fall among those slain by the sword.
She is given over to the sword.
They drag her down with all her throng.
21 The strongest warriors will speak of him
and his allies from the midst of Sheol.
They have gone down,
they lie still, the uncircumcised,
slain by the sword.
22 “Assyria is there and all her company,
their graves surround them
—all of them slain,
fallen by the sword.
23 Her graves are set in the deepest parts of the Pit.
Her company surrounds her grave
—all of them slain, fallen by the sword
—who put terror in the land of the living.
24 “There is Elam and all her multitude surrounding her grave
—all of them slain, fallen by the sword
—who went down uncircumcised into
the underworld, who caused terror in the land of the living.
They bear their disgrace with those who go down to the Pit.
25 They have made her a bed among
the slain with all her throng,
her graves about them
—all of them uncircumcised, slain, fallen by the sword—
though they caused terror in the land of the living.
So they bear their disgrace with those who go down to the Pit.
They are laid among the slain.
26 “Meshech-Tubal is there and all her throng,
her graves around them
—all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
though they spread their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie with the mighty,
the fallen from among the uncircumcised,
who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war.
They put their swords under their heads.
Their iniquities rest on their bones because the terror of the mighty ones was in the land of the living.
28 You also will be shattered and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword.
29 “Edom is there, her kings and all her princes,
who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword.
They lie with the uncircumcised,
with those who go down to the Pit.
30 “The princes of the north are there,
all of them, all the Zidonians, who have gone down with the slain,
ashamed for all the terror that they caused by their might.
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword.
They bear their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.
31 When Pharaoh sees them,
he will be comforted for all his throng,
Pharaoh and all his army,
slain by the sword.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
32 “For I have put My terror in the land of the living.
He will lie among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword,
Pharaoh and all his multitude.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Watchman, Blow the Shofar
33 The word of Adonai came to me saying: 2 “Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword upon a land, suppose the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him as their watchman. 3 If, when he sees the sword coming upon the land, he blows the shofar and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the shofar but ignores the warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the shofar and ignored the warning; his blood will be on himself. However, if he had taken warning, he would have saved his soul. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the shofar, the people are not warned. Then the sword does come and takes a person from among them—he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.’
7 “You, son of man, I have set you as a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear the word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked: ‘Wicked one, you will surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked about his way—that wicked one will die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 If you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it and he does not turn from his way, then he will die in his iniquity—but you have saved your soul.
10 “You, son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘You have said, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us and we are pining away in them. So how can we live.” 11 Say to them: ‘As I live’—it is a declaration of Adonai—‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Return, return from your evil ways. Why will you die, O house of Israel?’
12 “You, son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous person will not deliver him in the day of his transgression. Nor will the wickedness of the wicked person make him stumble in it on the day he turns away from his wickedness. Nor will the righteous person be able to live by it on the day he sins. 13 When I tell the righteous that he will surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered. But in his iniquity that he has committed, he will die. 14 When I say to the wicked, “You will surely die,” yet he turns from his sin and does what is just and right— 15 if the wicked restores a pledge, gives back what he had taken by robbery, walks in the laws of life, committing no iniquity—he will surely live, he will not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.’
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of Adonai isn’t fair!’ but it is their way, theirs that is unfair. 18 When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die in it. 19 When a wicked person turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he will live by it. 20 Yet you say, ‘The way of Adonai is not fair!’ House of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his ways.”
Jerusalem Falls
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me saying, “The city has been struck down.” 22 The hand of Adonai had been upon me in the evening, before the survivor came. He had opened my mouth by the time of his coming to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
23 Then the word of Adonai came to me saying: 24 “Son of man, the inhabitants of these ruins in the land of Israel keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one, yet he inherited the land. Since we are many, the land is given to us as a possession.’
25 “Therefore say to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘You eat with the blood, lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you possess the land? 26 You rely on your sword, commit abominations and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you possess the land?’ 27 Say this to them, thus says Adonai Elohim: ‘As I live, surely those who are in the ruins will fall by the sword. Whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and whoever is in the strongholds and in the caves will die of the plague. 28 I will make the land a desolation and a horror. The pride of her power will cease. The mountains of Israel will be desolate, so that no one will pass through.’ 29 They will know that I am Adonai, when I have made the land a desolate waste, because of all their abominations that they have committed.”
30 “Now as for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses. Each one speaks to one another, each saying to his brother: ‘Come now, hear what message is coming forth from Adonai!’ 31 So 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 with their mouth they express doting love, but their heart goes after their own dishonest gain. 32 Look, you are like a love song to them, one who has a beautiful voice and can play well on an instrument. They hear your words, but do not practice them. 33 When this comes to pass—behold, it is coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Adonai, Our Shepherd
34 The word of Adonai came to me saying: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, thus says Adonai Elohim: “Oy, shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should shepherds not take care of the sheep? 3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fat ones. But you do not take care of the sheep. 4 You do not strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken, bring back the stray or seek the lost. Instead, you have ruled over them with force and cruelty. 5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd. They became food for all the beasts of the field as they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Over all the face of the earth My sheep were scattered. No one searched. No one sought.”
7 Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of Adonai: 8 “As I live”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“as surely as My sheep became prey and My sheep became food for all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My sheep,” 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Adonai, 10 thus says Adonai Elohim: “Behold, I am against the shepherds and I will demand My flock from their hand. I will dismiss them from tending the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves. I will rescue My sheep from their mouth, so they will not be food for them.”
11 For thus says Adonai Elohim: “Here I am! I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will seek out My sheep. I will rescue them out of all the places where they have been scattered, on a day of cloud and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them back to their own land. I will shepherd them upon the mountains of Israel, by the streams and in all the habitable places of the land. 14 I will shepherd them in a good pasture—their grazing place will be on the high mountains of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground. They will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will tend My flock and make them lie down”—it is a declaration of Adonai.
16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the stray, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy—I will tend them with justice. 17 As for you, My flock”—thus says Adonai Elohim—“behold, I will judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. [b] 18 Was it too little for you that you were feeding in the good pasture? Must you trample down the rest of your pastures with your feet? You were drinking clear water. Must you muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Yet My sheep must eat what you have trampled with your feet and drink what you have muddied with your feet!”
20 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you thrust with your side and with shoulder and gore all the weak with your horns, until you have scattered them all over, 22 I will save My flock. They will no longer be prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 So I will set up One Shepherd over them, My servant David—He will tend them, He will feed them Himself and be their shepherd. [c] 24 I, Adonai, will be their God, and My servant David will be Prince among them. I, Adonai, have spoken.
25 “I will make a covenant of shalom with them. I will remove the evil beasts from the land, so they may dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. 26 I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will cause the rain to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing. 27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit. The ground will yield its produce. They will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Adonai, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be prey to the nations. The beast of the earth will not devour them. They will live in security. No one will make them afraid. 29 I will make their agriculture renowned. They will no longer be consumed with hunger in the land. They will no longer bear the scorn of the nations. 30 They will know that I, Adonai their God, am with them. They, the house of Israel, are My people.” It is a declaration of Adonai. 31 “So you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are human, and I am your God.” It is a declaration of Adonai Elohim.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.