Old/New Testament

33 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, speak to the sons of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring a sword upon the land and the people of the land take a man from within their borders and set him up as a watchman;

³ and he should see the sword coming upon the land, if he should blow the shofar, and warn the people,

⁴ then whoever hears the sound of the shofar and does not take warning; and the coming of the sword should take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

⁵ He heard the sound of the shofar and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he that takes warning shall deliver his soul.

⁶ But if the watchman should see the sword coming and not blow the shofar and the people not be warned, if the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away because of his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.

⁷ So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me.

⁸ When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die for his sin; but I will require his blood at thine hand.

⁹ Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he does not turn from his way, he shall die for his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

¹⁰ ¶ Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel: Ye speak thus, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are consumed because of them. How should we then live?

¹¹ Say unto them, As I live, said the Lord GOD, I do not desire the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and that he live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

¹² And thou, son of man, say unto the sons of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him the day that he rebels; and the wickedness of the wicked shall not impede him in the day that he turns from his wickedness; and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness in the day that he sins.

¹³ When I am saying to the righteous, Thou shalt shall surely live and he trusting in his own righteousness commits iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he has committed, he shall die for it.

¹⁴ And, when I am saying unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turns from his sin, and does judgment and righteousness

¹⁵ if the wicked restores the pledge, returns that which 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 mentioned unto him. Has he lived according to judgment and righteousness? He shall surely live.

¹⁷ Then the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: but their way is the one that is not straight.

¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die thereby.

¹⁹ And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does judgment and righteousness, he shall live thereby.

²⁰ Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not straight. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you each one after his ways.

²¹ ¶ And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

²² Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening before he that was escaped came, and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and he opened my mouth, and I was never dumb again.

²³ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

²⁴ Son of man, those that inhabit these wastes in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he possessed the land; but we are many; the land is given us for a possession.

²⁵ Therefore say unto them, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Ye eat with the blood and lift up your eyes toward your idols and shed blood, and shall ye possess this land?

²⁶ Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile each one his neighbour’s wife, and shall ye possess the land?

²⁷ Thou shalt speak unto them like this, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; As I live, surely those that are in those wastes shall fall by the sword, and he that is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those that are in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

²⁸ For I will make the land into desert and solitude, and the pride of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that no one shall pass through.

²⁹ Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land into solitude and desert because of all their abominations which they have committed.

³⁰ ¶ And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people are still talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to another, each one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the LORD.

³¹ And they shall come unto thee as the people come, and they shall be before thee, my people, and they shall hear thy words, but they shall not do them; for with their mouth they flatter, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

³² And, behold, thou art unto them as a singer of love songs, one that has a good voice and can sing well: and they shall hear thy words, but they will not do them.

³³ But when this comes to pass (behold, it comes), then they shall know that a prophet has been among them.

34 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto the pastors, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ Ye eat the milk, and ye clothe yourselves with the wool, ye kill those that are fat; but ye do not feed the flock.

⁴ Ye have not strengthened the weak, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty ye have ruled them;

⁵ and they are dispersed because there is no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and they were scattered.

⁶ My sheep were lost and wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill; my flock was dispersed upon all the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or to require anything of them.

⁷ ¶ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

⁸ as I live, said the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food to every beast of the field, without a pastor, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock;

⁹ therefore, O ye pastors, hear the word of the LORD.

¹⁰ Thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any longer; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, and they shall no longer be food for them.

¹¹ For thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I, even I, will both search and recognize my sheep.

¹² As the shepherd recognizes his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I recognize my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the habitations of the country.

¹⁴ I will feed them in good pastures and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there they shall sleep in a good fold, and in fat pastures they shall be fed upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to have a fold, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁶ I will seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven away and will 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 in judgment.

¹⁷ ¶ And as for you, O my flock, thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he goats.

¹⁸ Does it seem a small thing unto you that ye eat of the good pastures, but ye also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and that in drinking of the deep waters, ye must also foul the residue with your feet?

¹⁹ And my sheep eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

²⁰ Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and between the lean sheep,

²¹ because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder and pushed all the weak with your horns until ye have scattered them outside.

²² I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

²³ And I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my slave David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

²⁴ And I the LORD will be their God, and my slave David prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

²⁵ And I will establish with them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

²⁶ And I will give unto them and to the places round about my hill blessing, and I will cause the rain to come down in its season; they shall be rains of blessing.

²⁷ And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her fruit, and they shall be safe in their land and 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 that served themselves of them.

²⁸ And they shall no longer be a prey to the Gentiles, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a plant by name, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the Gentiles any longer.

³⁰ Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, said the Lord GOD.

³¹ And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, said the Lord GOD.

5 ¶ The elders who are among you I exhort (I am also an elder with them and a witness of the afflictions of the Christ, and also a participant of the glory that shall be revealed).

² Feed the flock of God which is among you, caring for her, not by force, but willingly; not for shameful lucre, but with willing desire;

³ and not as having lordship over the heritage of the Lord, but in such a manner as to be examples of the flock.

⁴ And when the great Prince of the pastors shall appear, ye shall receive the incorruptible crown of glory.

⁵ ¶ Likewise, young people, be subject to the elders in such a manner that you are all subject to one another. Be clothed with humility of will, for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time,

⁷ casting all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.

⁸ ¶ Be temperate and vigilant because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour,

⁹ resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are to be accomplished in the company of your brethren that are in the world.

¹⁰ ¶ But the God of all grace, who has called us unto his eternal glory by Jesus, the Christ, after ye have suffered a little while, he himself perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes you.

¹¹ To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

¹² By Silvanus, a faithful brother; (according to my reckoning), I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which ye stand.

¹³ Those here at Babylon, chosen together with you, salute you and so does Mark, my son.

¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Jesus, the Christ. Amen.