Chronological
A Lament for Pharaoh and Egypt
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:
You likened yourself to a young lion of the nations,
but you are as the monster in the seas;
and you burst forth in your rivers,
and muddied the waters with your feet,
and made foul their rivers.
3 Thus says the Lord God:
I will therefore spread out My net over you
with a company of many peoples,
and they shall bring you up in My net.
4 Then I will leave you upon the land;
I will cast you out on the open field,
and I will cause all the fowl of the heavens to remain upon you.
And I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with you.
5 I will lay your flesh upon the mountains,
and fill the valleys with your refuse.
6 I will also water the land with your blood,
as far as the mountains;
and the rivers shall be full of you.
7 When I put you out, I will cover the heavens
and make their stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon shall not give its light.
8 All the bright lights in the heavens
I will make dark over you,
and set darkness upon your land,
says the Lord God.
9 I will also vex the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Indeed, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you when I brandish My sword before them. And they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, on the day of your fall.
11 For thus says the Lord God:
The sword of the king of Babylon
shall come upon you.
12 By the swords of the mighty,
I will cause your multitude to fall.
All of them are tyrants of the nations;
they shall destroy the pride of Egypt,
and all its multitude shall be destroyed.
13 I also will destroy all the beasts
from beside many waters;
nor shall the foot of man muddy them anymore,
nor the hoofs of beasts muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters settle,
and cause their rivers to run like oil,
says the Lord God.
15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
and the country is destitute of that by which it was full,
when I smite all those who dwell in it,
then shall they know that I am the Lord.
16 This is the lamentation, and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. They shall chant it over Egypt and over all her multitude, says the Lord God.
A Dirge for Egypt
17 In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt and cast it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19 “Whom do you surpass in beauty? Descend and make your bed with the uncircumcised.” 20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword. She is delivered to the sword. They have drawn her and all her multitudes away. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him and those who help him out of the midst of Sheol: “They have gone down, they lie still, uncircumcised, slain by the sword.”
22 Assyria is there and all her company. Her graves are around her. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, 23 whose graves are set in the sides of the pit and her company is all around her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who cause terror in the land of the living.
24 There is Elam and all her multitude all around her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who descended uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living and bore their shame with those who went down to the pit. 25 They have set a bed for her in the midst of the slain with all her multitude. Her graves are all around it. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; though their terror was caused in the land of the living, yet they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. They were put in the midst of those who are slain.
26 There is Meshek, Tubal, and all her multitude. Their graves are all around them. All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword, though they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who have gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads. But the punishment for their iniquity rested upon their bones, though the terror of these mighty ones was once in the land of the living.
28 Indeed, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised and shall lie with those who are slain with the sword.
29 There is Edom also, its kings and all its officials, who for all their might are laid by those who were slain by the sword. They shall lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.
30 There are also the officials of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror from their might have gone down in shame with the slain. So they lie down uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit.
31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his army, says the Lord God. 32 Though I have caused a terror of him in the land of the living, yet he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with those who are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call
33 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them and set him for their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword come upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet yet did not take warning. His blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning delivers his soul. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned and a sword comes and takes a person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity. But his blood I will require from the hand of the watchman.
7 Now as for you, son of man: I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them from Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, “O wicked man, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But his blood I will require from your hand. 9 Nevertheless, if you on your part warn the wicked to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity. But you have delivered your soul.
God’s Justice and Mercy
10 Therefore as for you, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them. How should we then live?” 11 Say to them: As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why will you die, O house of Israel?
12 Therefore you, son of man, say to the sons of your people: The righteousness of a righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression. As for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness. Nor shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sins. 13 When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered. But for that iniquity of his that he has committed, he shall die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, “You shall surely die,” and he turns from his sin and does that which is lawful and right, 15 if the wicked man restores a pledge, gives back what he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is lawful and right. He shall surely live.
17 Yet the sons of your people say, “The way of the Lord is not right,” when their way is not right. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die by it. 19 But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live by them. 20 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” O house of Israel, I will judge you, every one according to his ways.
The Fall of Jerusalem
21 In the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, “The city is taken.” 22 Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, before those who escaped came. And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning. Therefore my mouth was opened and I was speechless no more.
23 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 24 Son of man, those who inhabit these wastes in the land of Israel are saying, “Abraham was one, yet he inherited the land. But to us who are many, the land has been given for an inheritance.” 25 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: You eat meat with the blood in it and lift up your eyes toward your idols as you shed blood. Should you then possess the land? 26 You rely upon your sword, you work abominations, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?
27 Thus you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and him who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the forts and in the caves shall die of pestilence. 28 For I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pomp of her strength shall cease. And the mountains of Israel shall be desolate so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they 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 As for you, son of man, the sons of your people are talking about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses; and they speak to one another, each saying to his brother, “Come now, and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord.” 31 They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words; but they will not do them. For they do the lustful desires in their mouth, and their heart goes after their covetousness. 32 You are to them as a sensual song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not do them.
33 When this comes to pass, and it is coming to pass, then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
A Prophecy Against Israel’s Shepherds
34 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourself with the wool; you kill those who are fed without feeding the flock. 4 The diseased you have not strengthened, nor have you healed that which was sick, nor have you bound up that which was broken, nor have you brought back that which was driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost. But with force and with cruelty you have subjugated them. 5 They were scattered because there was no shepherd. And they became meat to all the beasts of the field and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Indeed, My flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and no one searched or sought after them.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock even became meat to every beast 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 flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 10 Thus says the Lord God: I am against the shepherds. And I will require My flock from their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Nor shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver My flock from their mouth so that they may not be meat for them.
The True Shepherd
11 For thus says the Lord God: I, even I, will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in a cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel their grazing ground shall be. There they shall lie on good grazing ground, and in a rich pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God. 16 I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which was driven away and bind up that which was broken and will strengthen that which was sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with judgment.
17 As for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: I will judge between sheep and cattle, between the rams and the male goats. 18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and between the lean sheep. 21 Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, 22 therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David. He shall feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David shall be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.
25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and will cause the wild beasts to cease from the land so that they dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. And I will cause the showers to come down in their season. They shall be showers of blessing. 27 The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the ground shall yield its increase, and they shall be safe in their land. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land devour them. But they shall dwell safely and no one shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a planting place of renown, and no more shall they be consumed with hunger in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations anymore. 30 Thus shall they know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord God. 31 As for you, My flock, the flock of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.