331 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying , 2 "Son of man , speak to the sons 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 blows on the trumpet and warns the people , 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning , and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood 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 delivered 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 taken away in his iniquity ; but his blood I will require from the watchman's hand .' 7 "Now as for you, son of man , I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel ; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. 8 "When I say to the wicked , 'O wicked man , you will surely 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 does not turn from his way , he will die in his iniquity , but you have delivered 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 rotting away in them; how then can we survive ?"' 11 "Say to them, ' As I live !' declares the Lord GOD , 'I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked , but rather e that the wicked turn from his way and live . Turn back , turn back from your evil ways ! Why then will you die , O house of Israel ?' 12 "And you, son of man , say to your fellow citizens , 'The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression , and as for the wickedness of the wicked , he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns from his wickedness ; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by 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 commits iniquity , none e 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 turns from his sin and practices justice and righteousness , 15 if a wicked man restores a pledge , pays back what he has taken by robbery , walks by the statutes which ensure life without committing iniquity , he shall surely live ; he shall not die . 16 " None e of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him. He has practiced justice and righteousness ; he shall surely live . 17 "Yet your 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 commits iniquity , then he shall die in it. 19 "But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness , he will live by them. 20 "Yet you say , ' The way of the Lord is not right .' O house of Israel , I will judge each of you according to his ways ."
21 Now in the twelfth e year of our exile , on the fifth of the tenth month , the refugees from Jerusalem came to me, saying , " The city has been taken ." 22 Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening , before the refugees came . And He opened my mouth at the time they came to me in the morning ; so my mouth was opened and I was no longer speechless . 23 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying , 24 "Son of man , they who live in these waste places in the land of Israel are saying , ' Abraham was only one , yet he possessed the land ; so to us 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 blood in it, lift up your eyes to your idols as you shed blood . Should you then possess the land ? 26 "You rely 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 e those who are in the waste places will fall by the sword , and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured , and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence . 28 "I will make the land a desolation and a waste , and the pride 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 , your 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 , ' Come now and hear what the message 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 mouth , and their heart goes after their gain . 32 "Behold , you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words but they do not practice them. 33 "So when it comes to pass -as surely it will-then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst ."
341 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying , 2 "Son of man , prophesy against the shepherds of Israel . Prophesy and say to those shepherds , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "Woe , 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 slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock . 4 "Those who are sickly you have not strengthened , the diseased you have not healed , the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back , nor have you sought for the lost ; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. 5 "They were scattered for lack of a shepherd , and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered . 6 "My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill ; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth , and there was no 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 e because My flock has become a prey , 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 against the shepherds , and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep . So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore , but I will deliver My flock from their mouth , so that they will not be food for them.""' 11 For thus says the Lord GOD , "Behold , I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 " As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep , so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy 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 feed them on the mountains of Israel , by the streams , and in all the inhabited places of the land . 14 "I will feed them in a good 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 rich pasture on the mountains of Israel . 15 "I will feed My flock and I will lead 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 fat and the strong I will destroy . I will feed them with judgment .
17 "As for you, My flock , thus says the Lord GOD , 'Behold , I will judge between one sheep and another , between the rams and the male goats . 18 'Is it too slight 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 foul the rest with your feet ? 19 'As for My flock , they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul 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 thrust at all the weak with your horns until e you have scattered them abroad , 22 therefore, I will deliver My flock , and they will no longer be a prey ; 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 himself and be their shepherd . 24 "And I, the Lord , will be their God , and My servant David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken . 25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods . 26 "I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing . And I will cause showers to come down in their season ; they will be showers of blessing . 27 "Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase , and they will be secure on their land . Then they will know that I am the Lord , when I have broken 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 live securely , and no one will make them afraid . 29 "I will establish for them a renowned planting place , and they will not again be victims of famine in the land , and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore . 30 "Then they will know that I, 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 sheep , the sheep of My pasture , you are men , and I am your God ," declares the Lord GOD .
51 Therefore , I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ , and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed , 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion , but voluntarily , according to the will of God ; and not for sordid gain , but with eagerness ; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge , but proving to be examples to the flock . 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears , you will receive the unfading crown of glory .
5 You younger men , likewise , be subject to your elders ; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another , for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD , BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE . 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God , that He may exalt you at the proper time , 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert . Your adversary , the devil , prowls around like a roaring lion , seeking someone to devour . 9 But resist him, firm in your faith , knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world .
10 After you have suffered for a little while , the God of all grace , who called you to His eternal glory in Christ , will Himself perfect , confirm , strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever . Amen .
12 Through Silvanus , our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly , exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God . Stand firm in it! 13 She who is in Babylon , chosen together with you, sends you greetings , and so does my son , Mark . 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love . Peace be to you all who are in Christ .
