Chapter 33

The Watchman’s Duty

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, speak to the asons 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 ablows on the trumpet and warns the people,

4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and adoes not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his bblood 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 adelivered 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 ataken away 1in his iniquity; but his bblood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’

7 “Now as for you, son of man, I have 1aappointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a 2message from My mouth and give them bwarning from Me.

8 “When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will asurely 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 if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he adoes not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have bdelivered 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 arotting away in them; bhow then can we 1survive?” ’

11 “Say to them, ‘aAs I live!’ declares the Lord 1God, ‘I take bno pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked cturn from his way and live. dTurn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

12 “And you, son of man, say to 1your fellow citizens, ‘The arighteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will bnot stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live 2by 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 acommits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die.

14 “But when I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and he aturns from his sin and practices bjustice and righteousness,

15 if a wicked man restores a pledge, apays back what he has taken by robbery, walks by the bstatutes 1which ensure life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

16 “aNone of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness; he shall surely live.

17 “Yet 1your fellow citizens 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 acommits iniquity, then he shall die in 1it.

19 “But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

20 “Yet you say, ‘aThe way of the Lord is not right.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.”

Word of Jerusalem’s Capture

21 Now ain the btwelfth year of our exile, on the fifth of the tenth month, the 1refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying, “cThe city has been 2taken.”

22 Now the ahand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before the 1refugees came. And He bopened my mouth 2at the time they came to me in the morning; so my mouth was copened and I was no longer 3speechless.

23 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

24 “Son of man, they who alive in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying, ‘bAbraham was only one, yet he possessed the land; so to cus who are many the land has been given as a possession.’

25 “Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the ablood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood. bShould you then possess the land?

26 “You 1arely on your sword, you commit 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 the Lord God, “As I live, surely those who are in the waste places will afall by the sword, and whoever is in the 1open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the bcaves will die of pestilence.

28 “I will amake the land a desolation and a waste, and the bpride of her power 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 the Lord, when I make the land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations which they have committed.” ’

30 “But as for you, son of man, 1your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘aCome now and hear what the 2message is which comes forth from the Lord.’

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 amouth, and their heart goes after their bgain.

32 “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a abeautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them.

33 “So when it acomes to pass—1as surely it will—then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst.”

Chapter 34

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the ashepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to 1those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord 2God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been 3bfeeding themselves! Should not the shepherds 3cfeed the flock?

3 “You aeat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you bslaughter the fat sheep without 1feeding the flock.

4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the 1diseased you have not healed, athe broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you bsought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

5 “They were ascattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became bfood for every beast of the field and were scattered.

6 “My flock awandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; bMy flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was cno one to search or seek for them.” ’ ”

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

8 “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a aprey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am aagainst the shepherds, and I will demand My 1sheep 2from them and make them bcease from feeding 1sheep. So the shepherds will not 3feed themselves anymore, but I will cdeliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” ’ ”

The Restoration of Israel

11 For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will asearch for My sheep and seek them out.

12 “aAs a shepherd 1cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered 2sheep, so I will 1bcare for My 2sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ccloudy 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 afeed them on the mountains of Israel, by the bstreams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

14 “I will feed them in a agood pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in 1brich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15 “I will afeed My flock and I will 1lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God.

16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the afat and the strong I will destroy. I will bfeed them with judgment.

17 “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will ajudge between one 1sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

18 ‘Is it too aslight a thing for you that you should feed 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 1foul the rest with your feet?

19 ‘As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you 1foul with your feet!’ ”

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God 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 athrust at all the 1weak with your horns until you have scattered them 2abroad,

22 therefore, I will adeliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “Then I will aset over them one bshepherd, My servant cDavid, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd.

24 “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant aDavid will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

25 “I will make a acovenant of peace with them and beliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may clive securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

26 “I will make them and the places around My hill a ablessing. And I will cause bshowers to come down in their season; they will be showers of cblessing.

27 “Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be asecure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have bbroken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

28 “They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will alive securely, and no one will make them afraid.

29 “I will establish for them a arenowned planting place, and they will bnot again be 1victims of famine in the land, and they will not cendure the insults of the nations anymore.

30 “Then they will know that aI, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God.

31 “As for you, My asheep, the bsheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.

Chapter 35

Prophecy against Mount Seir

1 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Son of man, set your face against aMount Seir, and prophesy against it

3 and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord 1God,

“Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,

And I will astretch out My hand against you

And make you a bdesolation and a waste.

4 “I will alay waste your cities

And you will become a desolation.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

5 “Because you have had everlasting aenmity and have 1delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the 2bpunishment of the end,

6 therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will 1give you over to abloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.

7 “I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns.

8 “I will afill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will 1fall.

9 “I will make you an everlasting adesolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

10 “Because you have asaid, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess 1them,’ although the bLord was there,

11 therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you aaccording to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will bmake Myself known among them when I judge you.

12 “Then you will know 1that I, the Lord, have heard all your revilings which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are agiven to us for food.’

13 “And you have 1aspoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; bI have heard it.”

14 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “As all the aearth rejoices, I will make you a desolation.

15 “As you arejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, bso I will do to you. You will be a cdesolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” ’