Ezekiel 33–34

33Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ²Son 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: ³If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and ^dwarn the people; ⁴Then ^†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. ⁵He 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. ⁶But 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. ⁷ⁱSo 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. ^8hWhen 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. ^9lNevertheless, 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.

¹⁰Therefore, 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? ¹¹Say 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? ¹²Therefore, 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. ¹³When 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. ¹⁴Again, ^uwhen I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; ^vif he turn from his sin, and ^vdo ^†that which is lawful and right; ¹⁵If 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. ^16zNone 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. ^17aYet ^bthe children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. ^18cWhen the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. ^19dBut if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and ^vdo that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. ^20aYet 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. ²²Now 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. ²³Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ²⁴Son 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. ²⁵Wherefore 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? ^26rYe stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ^psye defile every one his neighbour’s wife: and shall ye possess the land? ²⁷Say 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. ²⁸For ^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. ²⁹Then ^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.

³⁰Also, 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. ³¹And ^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. ³²And, 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. ³³And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then ^mshall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

34And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ²Son 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? ^3dYe eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ^eye kill them that are fed: but ^eeye feed not the flock. ^4fgThe 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. ⁵And ⁿthey were scattered, ^||nobecause there is no shepherd: and ^pthey became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. ^6ppMy 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.

⁷Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; ^8rAs 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; ⁹Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; ¹⁰Thus 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.

¹¹For 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. ¹³And 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. ^14yI 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. ^15cI will feed my flock, and ^aI will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. ^16dI 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. ¹⁷And 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. ^18jSeemeth 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? ¹⁹And 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.

²⁰Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; ^gBehold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. ²¹Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and ⁿpushed all ^othe diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; ²²Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be ^pa prey; and ^gI will judge between cattle and cattle. ²³And 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. ²⁴And ^tI the Lord will be their God, and ^rsmy servant David ^ua prince among them; ^vI the Lord have spoken it. ²⁵And 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. ²⁶And 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. ²⁷And ^cthe tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and ^cfthe earth shall yield…