33 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to athe children of thy people, and say unto them, b†When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their cwatchman: 3 If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and dwarn the people; 4 Then †whosoever heareth ethe sound of the trumpet, and dtaketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, fhis blood shall be upon his own head. 5 He heard ethe sound of the trumpet, and dtook not warning; fhis blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. 6 But if cthe watchman see the sword come, and eblow not the trumpet, and the people dbe not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, ghe is taken away in his iniquity; but hhis blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 7 iSo thou, O son of man, I have kset thee ca watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and dwarn them from me. 8 hWhen I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak dto warn the wicked from his way, ghthat wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but hhis blood will I require at thine hand. 9 lNevertheless, if thou dwarn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, ghe shall die in his iniquity; lmbut thou hast delivered thy soul.

10 Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and nwe pine away in them, ohow should we then live? 11 Say unto them, pAs I live, saith the Lord God, qI have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for rwhy will ye die, O house of Israel? 12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto athe children of thy people, sThe righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, the shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; sneither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. 13 When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; sif he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 14 Again, uwhen I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; vif he turn from his sin, and vdo †that which is lawful and right; 15 If the wicked wrestore the pledge, xgive again that he had robbed, walk in ythe statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 zNone of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: vhe hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 aYet bthe children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 18 cWhen the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. 19 dBut if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and vdo that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 aYet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, eI will judge you every one after his ways.

21 *And it came to pass hin the twelfth year fof our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, gthat one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, hThe city is smitten. 22 Now ithe hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and kmy mouth was opened, and kI was no more dumb. 23 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, they that inhabit those lwastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was mone, and he inherited the land: but nwe are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; oYe eat with the blood, and plift up your eyes toward your idols, and qshed blood: and shall ye possess the land? 26 rYe stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and psye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? 27 Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; tAs I live, surely they that are in lthe wastes shall fall by uthe sword, and him that is in the open field vwill I give to uthe beasts †to be devoured, and they that be win the forts and xin the caves shall die of uthe pestilence. 28 For yI will lay the land †most desolate, and athe pomp of her strength shall cease; and bthe mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. 29 Then cshall they know that I am the Lord, when I have laid the land most desolate because of all their abominations which they have committed.

30 Also, thou son of man, dthe children of thy people still are talking ||against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. 31 And ethey come unto thee †as the people cometh, and ||they fsit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for gwith their mouth †they shew much love, but htheir heart goeth after their covetousness. 32 And, lo, ithou art unto them as †a very lovely song of kone that hath a pleasant voice, and lcan play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 33 And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then mshall they know that a prophet hath 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 them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; aWoe be to the shepherds of Israel bthat do feed themselves! cshould not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3 dYe eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, eye kill them that are fed: but eeye feed not the flock. 4 fgThe diseased have ye not strengthened, neither hhave ye healed that which was sick, neither fihave ye bound up hthat which was broken, neither fhave ye brought again kthat which was driven away, neither flhave ye sought that which was lost; but with force and mwith cruelty have ye ruled them. 5 And nthey were scattered, ||nobecause there is no shepherd: and pthey became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6 ppMy sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and qnone did search or seek after them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; 8 rAs I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock sbecame a prey, and my flock pbecame meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but bthe shepherds fed themselves, and eefed not my flock; 9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; 10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and tI will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds bfeed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, pthat they may not be meat for them.

11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, qI, even I, will rrboth search my sheep, and lseek them out. 12 †As ssa shepherd lseeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in ttthe cloudy and tudark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the people, and vgather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon wthe mountains of Israel by xthe rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 yI will feed them in a good pasture, and upon zthe high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: athere shall they lie in a good fold, and in a bfat pasture shall they feed upon wthe mountains of Israel. 15 cI will feed my flock, and aI will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. 16 dI will seek that which was lost, and dbring again that which was driven away, and dwill bind up that which was broken, and dwill strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy ethe fat and the strong; I will feed them fwith judgment. 17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; gBehold, I judge between †cattle and cattle, hbetween the rams and ithe †he goats. 18 jSeemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the kdeep waters, but ye must lfoul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for my flock, they eat mthat which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink lthat which ye have fouled with your feet.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; gBehold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. 21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and npushed all othe diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; 22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be pa prey; and gI will judge between cattle and cattle. 23 And I will set up qone shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, reven smy servant David; qhe shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And tI the Lord will be their God, and rsmy servant David ua prince among them; vI the Lord have spoken it. 25 And I will make with them wa covenant of peace, and xwill cause ythe evil beasts to cease out of the land: and zthey shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and zzsleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places round about amy hill ba blessing; and cI will cause dthe shower to come down in his season; there shall be eshowers of blessing. 27 And cthe tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and cfthe earth shall yield …