34Then this message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H5592“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their sheep?H1121H120H5012H7462H3478H5012H559H559H136H3069H7462H1945H7462H3478H7462H7462H7462H66293You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.H398H2459H3847H6785H2076H1277H7462H66294You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.H2470H2388H7495H2470H2280H7665H7725H5080H1245H6H2394H6531H72875So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.H6327H7462H402H2416H7704H63276They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.H6629H7686H2022H7311H1389H6629H6327H6440H776H1875H12457“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:H7462H8085H1697H30688As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.H2416H5002H136H3069H6629H957H6629H402H2416H7704H7462H7462H1875H6629H7462H7462H7462H66299Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.H7462H8085H1697H306810This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.H559H136H3069H7462H1875H6629H3027H7673H7462H6629H7462H7462H5337H6629H6310H402
The Good Shepherd
11“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep.H559H136H3069H1875H6629H123912I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.H7462H1243H5739H3117H8432H6629H6567H1239H6629H5337H4725H6327H6051H6205H311713I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live.H3318H5971H6908H776H935H127H7462H2022H3478H650H4186H77614Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.H7462H2896H4829H4791H2022H3478H5116H7257H2896H5116H8082H4829H7462H2022H347815I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign Lord.H7462H6629H7257H5002H136H306916I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!H1245H6H7725H5080H2280H7665H2388H2470H8045H8082H2389H7462H494117“And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from the goats.H859H6629H559H136H3069H8199H7716H7716H352H626018Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?H4592H7462H2896H4829H7429H7272H3499H4829H8354H4950H4325H7515H3498H727219Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled?H6629H7462H4823H7272H8354H4833H727220“Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.H559H136H3069H8199H1274H7716H7330H771621For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.H1920H6654H3802H5055H2470H7161H6327H235122So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.H3467H6629H957H8199H7716H771623And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.H6965H259H7462H7462H5650H1732H7462H746224And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!H3068H430H5650H1732H5387H8432H3068H1696
The Lord’s Covenant of Peace
25“I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.H3772H1285H7965H7451H2416H7673H776H3427H983H4057H3462H3293H326426I will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers of blessing.H5414H5439H1389H1293H1653H3381H6256H1653H129327The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the Lord.H6086H7704H5414H6529H776H5414H2981H983H127H3045H3068H7665H4133H5923H5337H3027H564728They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will frighten them.H957H1471H2416H776H398H3427H983H272929“And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations.H6965H4302H8034H622H7458H776H5375H3639H147130In this way, they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign Lord.H3045H3068H430H1004H3478H5971H5002H136H306931You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”H859H6629H6629H4830H120H430H5002H136H3069
Ezekiel 35
A Message for Edom
35Again a message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H5592“Son of man, turn and face Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people.H1121H120H7760H6440H2022H8165H50123Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord. “I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely.H559H559H136H3069H2022H8165H5186H3027H5414H4923H80774I will demolish your cities and make you desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.H7760H5892H2723H8077H3045H30685“Your eternal hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins.H5769H342H5064H1121H3478H3027H2719H6256H343H6256H5771H70936As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!H2416H5002H136H3069H6213H1818H1818H7291H518H8130H1818H1818H72917I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return.H5414H2022H8165H8077H8077H3772H5674H77258I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your ravines will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.H4390H2022H2491H1389H1516H650H5307H2491H27199I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the Lord.H5414H5769H8077H5892H7725H3427H3045H306810“For you said, ‘The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the Lord is there!’H559H8147H1471H8147H776H3423H306811Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will pay back your angry deeds with my own. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will make myself known to Israel by what I do to you.H2416H5002H136H3069H6213H639H7068H6213H8135H3045H819912Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, ‘They are desolate; they have been given to us as food to eat!’H3045H3068H8085H5007H559H2022H3478H559H8074H8077H5414H40213In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!H6310H1431H6280H1697H808514“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.H559H136H3069H776H8055H6213H807715You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel’s territory. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the Lord.H8057H5159H1004H3478H8074H6213H8077H2022H8165H123H3045H3068
Ezekiel 36
Restoration for Israel
36“Son of man, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!H1121H120H5012H2022H3478H559H2022H3478H8085H1697H30682This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, ‘Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!’H559H136H3069H341H559H1889H5769H1116H41813Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, making you the property of many nations and the object of much mocking and slander.H5012H559H559H136H3069H8074H7602H5439H4181H7611H1471H5927H8193H3956H1681H59714Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations.H2022H3478H8085H1697H136H3069H559H136H3069H2022H1389H650H1516H8074H2723H5892H5800H957H3933H7611H1471H54395This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My jealous anger burns against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.H559H136H3069H784H7068H1696H7611H1471H123H5414H776H4181H8057H3824H7589H5315H4054H9576“Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.H5012H127H3478H559H2022H1389H650H1516H559H136H3069H1696H7068H2534H5375H3639H14717Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure.H559H136H3069H5375H3027H1471H5439H5375H36398“But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon!H2022H3478H5414H6057H5375H6529H5971H3478H7126H9359See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted.H6437H5647H223210I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.H7235H120H1004H3478H5892H3427H2723H112911I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.H7235H120H929H7235H6509H3427H6927H2895H7221H3045H306812I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children.H120H3212H5971H3478H3423H5159H3254H792113“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!’H559H136H3069H559H398H120H7921H147114But you will never again devour your people or rob them of their children, says the Sovereign Lord.H398H120H7921H3782H1471H5002H136H306915I will not let you hear those other nations insult you, and you will no longer be mocked by them. You will not be a land that causes its nation to fall, says the Sovereign Lord.”H8085H3639H1471H5375H2781H5971H1471H3782H5002H136H306916Then this further message came to me from the Lord:H1697H3068H55917“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by the evil way they lived. To me their conduct was as unclean as a woman’s menstrual cloth.H1121H120H1004H3478H3427H127H2930H1870H5949H1870H6440H2932H507918They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them.H8210H2534H1818H8210H776H1544H293019I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived.H6327H1471H2219H776H1870H5949H819920But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the Lord, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’H935H1471H935H2490H6944H8034H559H5971H3068H3318H77621Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations.H2550H6944H8034H1004H3478H2490H1471H93522“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations.H559H1004H3478H559H136H3069H6213H1004H3478H6944H8034H2490H1471H93523I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord.H6942H1419H8034H2490H1471H2490H8432H1471H3045H3068H5002H136H3069H6942H586924For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.H3947H4480H1471H6908H776H935H12725“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.H2236H2889H4325H2891H2932H1544H289126And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.H2319H3820H5414H2319H7307H5414H7130H5493H68H3820H1320H5414H3820H132027And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.H5414H7307H7130H6213H3212H2706H8104H4941H621328“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.H3427H776H5414H1H5971H43029I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land.H3467H2932H7121H1715H7235H5414H745830I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.H7235H6529H6086H8570H7704H3947H2781H7458H147131Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did.H2142H7451H1870H4611H2896H6962H6440H5771H844132But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!H6213H5002H136H3069H3045H954H3637H1870H1004H347833“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.H559H136H3069H3117H2891H5771H3427H5892H2723H112934The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed.H8074H776H5647H8077H5869H567435And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!’H559H1977H776H8074H1588H5731H2720H8074H2040H5892H1219H342736Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I say.H1471H7604H5439H3045H3068H1129H2040H5193H8074H3068H1696H621337“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock.H559H136H3069H1875H1004H3478H6213H7235H120H662938They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the Lord.”H6944H6629H6629H3389H4150H2720H5892H4392H6629H120H3045H3068
Psalms 41
41[For the choir director: A psalm of David.] Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble.H5329H4210H1732H835H7919H1800H3068H4422H3117H74512The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies.H3068H8104H2421H833H776H5414H5315H3413The LORD nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health.H3068H5582H6210H1741H2015H4904H24834"O LORD," I prayed, "have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you."H559H3068H2603H7495H5315H23985But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. "How soon will he die and be forgotten?" they ask.H341H559H7451H4191H8034H66They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.H935H7200H1696H7723H3820H6908H205H3318H2351H16967All who hate me whisper about me, imagining the worst.H8130H3907H3162H2803H74518"He has some fatal disease," they say. "He will never get out of that bed!"H1100H1697H3332H7901H6965H32549Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.H7965H376H982H398H3899H1431H611910LORD, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back!H3068H2603H6965H799911I know you are pleased with me, for you have not let my enemies triumph over me.H3045H2654H341H732112You have preserved my life because I am innocent; you have brought me into your presence forever.H8551H8537H5324H6440H576913Praise the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen!H1288H3068H430H3478H5769H5769H543H543
Dublin, OH
by what I do to you.H2416
