Old/New Testament

The Words of the Watchman

33 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, speak to the children of your people. Say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men to keep watch for them, ³ and he sees the sword coming upon the land and sounds the horn to tell the people of the danger, ⁴ then if anyone hears the horn and does not take care, and a sword comes and kills him, he will be to blame for his own death. ⁵ He heard the sound of the horn, but did not worry about the danger. He will be to blame for his own death. If he had been careful, he would have saved his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the horn, and the people are not told of the danger, and a sword comes and kills one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin. But the blood of the watchman must be given.’

⁷ “Son of man, I have chosen you as a watchman for the people of Israel. So when I give you the word, you must tell them of the danger. ⁸ When I tell a sinful man that he will die for sure, and you do not speak to him about the danger of his way, that sinful man will die in his sin. But your blood must be given. ⁹ But if you tell a sinful man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his sin. But you have saved your life.

God Judges Well

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said, “Our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away in them. How then can we live?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I am not pleased when sinful people die. But I am pleased when the sinful turn from their way and live. Turn! Turn from your sinful ways! Why will you die, O people of Israel?’ ¹² Now, son of man, tell the children of your people, ‘If a man does what is right and good, it will not save him when he sins.’ And the sins of a sinful man will not make him fall when he turns from his sinful way. But the man who is right and good will not be able to live by his good ways when he sins. ¹³ When I tell the man who is right and good that he will live, and he trusts in his good ways so much that he sins, none of his good works will be remembered. He will die for the sin he has done. ¹⁴ But when I tell the sinful man that he will die, and he turns from his sin and does what is right and good, ¹⁵ if he gives back what a person gave him as trust for a promise, pays back what he had stolen, follows the Laws that give life and does not sin, he will live for sure. He will not die. ¹⁶ None of the sins he has done will be remembered against him. He has done what is right and good, and he will live for sure.

¹⁷ “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ But it is their way that is not right. ¹⁸ When the right and good man turns from his good way and sins, he will die for it. ¹⁹ But when the sinful man turns from his sin and does what is right and good, he will live because of it. ²⁰ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ O people of Israel, I will judge each of you by his ways.”

Jerusalem Is Taken

²¹ On the fifth day of the tenth month in the twelfth year since we had been taken to a strange land, a man who got away from Jerusalem came and said to me, “The city has been taken.” ²² Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before the man came. And He opened my mouth so that when the man came to me in the morning, I was able to speak.

The Sins of the People

²³ Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying, ²⁴ “Son of man, the people who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he owned the land. But we are many, and for sure the land has been given to us.’ ²⁵ So tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “You eat meat with the blood in it, and worship your false gods as you kill. Should the land belong to you? ²⁶ You trust in your sword, and keep on sinning. Each of you does sex sins with his neighbor’s wife. Should the land belong to you?”’ ²⁷ Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “As I live, those who are in the waste places will be killed by the sword. Whoever is in the open field, I will feed to the wild animals. And those who are in the strong-places and in the caves will die of disease. ²⁸ I will destroy the land and make it a waste. The pride of her power will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be laid waste, so that no one will pass through. ²⁹ Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I destroy the land and make it a waste because of all the hated sins they have done.”’

³⁰ “As for you, son of man, your people are talking to each other about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses. They are saying, ‘Come and hear the word that has come from the Lord.’ ³¹ They come and sit in front of you as My people, and listen to the words you say. But they do not do them. With their mouth they speak of love, but their hearts are full of sinful desire. ³² They think of you as nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays music well. For they hear what you say, but they will not do it. ³³ When all this comes true, and it will, then they will know that a man of God has been among them.”

The Shepherds of Israel

34 The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, speak against the shepherds of Israel. Speak in My name and tell those shepherds, ‘The Lord God says, “It is bad for the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool. You kill the fat sheep without feeding the flock. ⁴ You have not given strength to the weak ones. You have not healed the sick. You have not helped the ones that are hurt. You have not brought back those that have gone away. And you have not looked for the lost. But you have ruled them with power and without pity. ⁵ They went everywhere because they had no shepherd. And they became food for every animal of the field. ⁶ My flock went many different ways through all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were spread over all the earth, and there was no one looking for them.”’”

⁷ So, you shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord. ⁸ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “My flock has been killed and become food for wild animals because they had no shepherd. My shepherds did not look for My flock. They fed themselves, but have not fed My flock.” ⁹ So, you shepherds, hear the Word of the Lord. ¹⁰ The Lord God says, “I am against the shepherds, and I will ask them for My sheep. I will stop them from feeding the sheep, so they will no longer be able to feed themselves. I will save my sheep from their mouths, so that they will no longer be food for them.”

The Good Shepherd

¹¹ For the Lord God says, “I Myself will look for My sheep and find them. ¹² As a shepherd looks for his sheep when they are not together, so I will look for My sheep. And I will save them from all the places where they were spread out on a day of clouds and darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a good field. The ground they eat upon will be on the mountains of Israel. There they will lie down in a good field and feed on good grass on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed My sheep, and give them rest,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will look for the lost, bring back those that have gone away, help those who have been hurt, and give strength to the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with punishment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, the Lord God says, ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to eat in the good field? Must you crush under foot the rest of your fields? Is it not enough for you to drink of the clear waters? Must your feet fill the rest with mud? ¹⁹ Must My flock eat what you have crushed with your feet, and drink what you have made dirty with your feet?’”

²⁰ So the Lord God says to them, “I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the weak sheep. ²¹ Because you push with your side and shoulder and run against all the weak with your horns until you have driven them away, ²² I will save My flock. They will no longer be hurt. And I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David will be their leader. I, the Lord, have spoken.

²⁵ “I will make a peace agreement with them and take away wild animals from the land. Then they will be safe as they live in the desert and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will bring good to them and to the places around My hill. I will give them rain when they need it. Good will rain down upon them. ²⁷ The trees of the field will give their fruit and the earth will give its food. They will be safe in their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the load from their backs and have saved them from those who made servants of them. ²⁸ They will no longer be under the power of the nations. And the wild animals of the earth will not eat them. But they will be safe, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will give them a land well known for its fields of food. They will never suffer with hunger again, and will no longer be put to shame by the nations. ³⁰ Then 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, My sheep, the sheep of My field, are people, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

5 I want to speak to the church leaders among you. I am a church leader also. I saw Christ suffer and die on a cross. I will also share His shining-greatness when He comes again. ² Be good shepherds of the flock God has put in your care. Do not care for the flock as if you were made to. Do not care for the flock for money, but do it because you want to. ³ Do not be bosses over the people you lead. Live as you would like to have them live. ⁴ When the Head Shepherd comes again, you will get the crown of shining-greatness that will not come to an end.

⁵ In the same way, you younger men must obey the church leaders. Be gentle as you care for each other. God works against those who have pride. He gives His loving-favor to those who do not try to honor themselves. ⁶ So put away all pride from yourselves. You are standing under the powerful hand of God. At the right time He will lift you up. ⁷ Give all your worries to Him because He cares for you.

⁸ Keep awake! Watch at all times. The devil is working against you. He is walking around like a hungry lion with his mouth open. He is looking for someone to eat. ⁹ Stand against him and be strong in your faith. Remember, other Christians over all the world are suffering the same as you are. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for awhile, God Himself will make you perfect. He will keep you in the right way. He will give you strength. He is the God of all loving-favor and has called you through Christ Jesus to share His shining-greatness forever. ¹¹ God has power over all things forever. Let it be so.

¹² I have known Silvanus as a faithful Christian brother and it is by him I have written this short letter to help you. It tells you of the true loving-favor of God. Stay true in His loving-favor. ¹³ The church which is in the city of Babylon says hello. It has been chosen by God the same as you have been. My son, Mark, says hello also. ¹⁴ Greet each other with a kiss of holy love. May all of you Christians have peace.