Old/New Testament

Ezekiel, Israel’s Watchman

33 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the ^(A)sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming upon the land and ^(B)blows on the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then ^[a]he who hears the sound of the trumpet and ^(C)does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his ^(D)blood will be on his own head. ⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have ^(E)escaped with his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is ^(F)taken away ^[b]in his iniquity; but his ^(G)blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

⁷ “Now as for you, son of man, I have ^(H)given you as a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a word from My mouth and give them ^(I)warning from Me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will ^(J)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 But as for you, if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he ^(K)does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have ^(L)delivered your life.

¹⁰ “Now 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 are ^(M)rotting away in them; ^(N)how then can we live?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘^(O)As I live!’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘I take ^(P)no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked ^(Q)turn from his way and live. ^(R)Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ ¹² Now as for you, son of man, say to the sons of your people, ‘The ^(S)righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will ^(T)not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live ^[c]by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin.’ ¹³ When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he ^(U)does iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has done he will die. ¹⁴ But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he ^(V)turns from his sin and does ^(W)justice and righteousness, ¹⁵ if a wicked man restores a pledge, ^(X)pays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the ^(Y)statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^16 (Z)None of his sins that he has done will be remembered against him. He has done justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

¹⁷ “Yet the sons of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right,’ when it is their own way that is not right. ¹⁸ When the righteous turns from his righteousness and ^(AA)does iniquity, then he shall die in ^[d]it. ¹⁹ But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does justice and righteousness, he will live by them. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘^(AB)The way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Jerusalem Has Been Struck Down

²¹ Now ^(AC)it happened in the ^(AD)twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, that those who escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “^(AE)The city has been struck down.” ²² Now the ^(AF)hand of Yahweh had been upon me in the evening, before those who escaped came. And He ^(AG)opened my mouth ^[e]at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was ^(AH)opened, and I was no longer mute.

²³ Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, they who ^(AI)inhabit these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘^(AJ)Abraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to ^(AK)us who are many the land has been given as a possession.’ ²⁵ Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “You eat meat with the ^(AL)blood in it and lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. ^(AM)Should you then possess the land? ²⁶ You ^(AN)stand on account of your sword, you do abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then possess the land?”’ ²⁷ Thus you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will ^(AO)fall by the sword, and whoever is in the ^[f]open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the ^(AP)caves will die of pestilence. ²⁸ I will ^(AQ)make the land a desolation and a desecration, and the ^(AR)lofty pride of her strength will cease; and the mountains of Israel will be desolate so that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I make the land a desolation and a desecration because of all their abominations which they have done.”’

³⁰ “But as for you, son of man, the sons of your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘^(AS)Come now and hear what the word is which comes forth from Yahweh.’ ³¹ 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 they do the lustful desires expressed by their ^(AT)mouth, and their heart goes after their ^(AU)greedy gain. ³² Behold, you are to them like a lustful song by one who has a ^(AV)beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not do them. ³³ So when it ^(AW)comes to pass—behold, it is coming—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(AX)shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[g]those shepherds, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[h](AY)shepherding themselves! Should not the shepherds ^(AZ)shepherd the flock? ³ You ^(BA)eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you ^(BB)sacrifice the fat sheep without shepherding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, and the ^[i]diseased you have not healed, and ^(BC)the broken you have not bound up, and the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you ^(BD)searched for the lost; but with strength and with severity you have dominated them. ⁵ They were ^(BE)scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became ^(BF)food for every beast of the field and were scattered. ⁶ My flock ^(BG)wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; ^(BH)My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was ^(BI)no one to seek or search for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: ⁸ “As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “surely because My flock has become ^(BJ)plunder, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not seek for My flock, but rather the shepherds shepherded themselves and did not shepherd My flock; ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: ¹⁰ ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am ^(BK)against the shepherds, and I will seek My flock from their hand and make them ^(BL)cease from shepherding the flock. So the shepherds will not shepherd themselves anymore, but I will ^(BM)deliver My flock from their mouth so that they will not be food for them.”’”

Yahweh Will Shepherd His Flock

¹¹ For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I Myself will ^(BN)seek My sheep and care for them. ^12 (BO)As a shepherd ^[j]cares for his herd in the day when he is among his ^[k]sheep which are spread out, so I will ^[l](BP)care for My ^[m]sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ^(BQ)cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ^(BR)shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, by the ^(BS)streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will shepherd them in a ^(BT)good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and be shepherded in ^[n](BU)rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will ^(BV)shepherd My flock, and I will make them lie down,” declares Lord Yahweh. ¹⁶ “I will search for the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the ^(BW)fat and the strong I will destroy. I will ^(BX)shepherd them with judgment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will ^(BY)judge between one ^[o]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it too ^(BZ)slight a thing for you that you should be shepherded in 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 ^[p]foul the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ As for My flock, they must be shepherded on what you tread down with your feet and drink what you ^[q]foul with your feet!’”

²⁰ Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and with shoulder, and ^(CA)thrust at all the sickly with your horns until you have scattered them ^[r]abroad, ²² therefore, I will ^(CB)save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will ^(CC)establish over them one ^(CD)shepherd, My servant ^(CE)David, and he will shepherd them; he will shepherd them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, Yahweh, will be their God, and My servant ^(CF)David will be prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken.

Yahweh’s Covenant of Peace

²⁵ “I will cut a ^(CG)covenant of peace with them and ^(CH)cause harmful beasts to cease from the land so that they may ^(CI)live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places all around My hill a ^(CJ)blessing. And I will cause ^(CK)showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of ^(CL)blessing. ²⁷ Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be ^(CM)secure on their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have ^(CN)broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will ^(CO)live securely, and no one will make them tremble. ²⁹ I will establish for them a ^[s](CP)renowned planting place, and they will ^(CQ)not again be ^[t]victims of famine in the land, and they will not ^(CR)bear the dishonor of the nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that ^(CS)I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares Lord Yahweh. ³¹ “As for you, My ^(CT)sheep, the ^(CU)sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares Lord Yahweh.

Shepherd the Flock of God

5 ^(A)Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your ^(B)fellow elder and ^(C)witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a ^(D)partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, ² shepherd ^(E)the flock of God among you, overseeing ^(F)not under compulsion, but willingly, according to God; and ^(G)not for dishonest gain, but with eagerness; ³ nor yet as ^(H)lording it over ^[a]those allotted to you, but being ^(I)examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief ^(J)Shepherd appears, you will receive the ^(K)unfading ^[b](L)crown of glory. ^5 (M)You younger men, likewise, ^(N)be subject to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with ^(O)humility toward one another, for ^(P)God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

⁶ Therefore ^(Q)humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ^7 (R)casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. ^8 (S)Be of sober spirit, ^(T)be watchful. Your adversary, ^(U)the devil, prowls around like a roaring ^(V)lion, seeking someone to devour. ^9 [c](W)But resist him, ^(X)firm in the faith, knowing that ^(Y)the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished among your ^[d]brethren who are in the world. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered ^(Z)for a little while, the ^(AA)God of all grace, who ^(AB)called you to His ^(AC)eternal glory in Christ, will Himself ^(AD)restore, ^(AE)strengthen, confirm, and ground you. ^11 (AF)To Him be might forever and ever. Amen.

¹² Through ^(AG)Silvanus, our faithful brother as I regard him, ^(AH)I have written to you briefly, exhorting and bearing witness that this is ^(AI)the true grace of God. ^(AJ)Stand firm in it! ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, ^(AK)Mark. ^14 (AL)Greet one another with a kiss of love.

^(AM)Peace be to you all who are in Christ.