321 In the twelfth e year , in the twelfth e month, on the first of the month , the word of the Lord came to me saying , 2 "Son of man , take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him, 'You compared yourself to a young lion of the nations , Yet you are like the monster in the seas ; And you burst forth in your rivers And muddied the waters with your feet And fouled their rivers .' " 3 Thus says the Lord GOD , "Now I will spread My net over you With a company of many peoples , And they shall lift you up in My net . 4 "I will leave you on the land ; I will cast you on the open field . And I will cause all the birds of the heavens to dwell on you, And I will satisfy the beasts of the whole earth with you. 5 "I will lay your flesh on the mountains And fill the valleys with your refuse . 6 "I will also make the land drink the discharge of your blood As far as the mountains , And the ravines will be full of you. 7 "And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars ; I will cover the sun with a cloud And the moon will not give its light . 8 "All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will set darkness on your land ," Declares the Lord GOD . 9 "I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples when I bring your destruction among the nations , into lands which you have not known . 10 "I will make many peoples appalled at you, and their kings will be horribly afraid of you when I brandish My sword before e them; and they will tremble every moment , every man for his own life , on the day of your fall ." 11 For thus says the Lord GOD , "The sword of the king of Babylon will come upon you. 12 "By the swords of the mighty ones I will cause your hordes to fall ; all of them are tyrants of the nations , And they will devastate the pride of Egypt , And all its hordes will be destroyed . 13 "I will also destroy all its cattle from beside many waters ; And the foot of man will not muddy them anymore And the hoofs of beasts will not muddy them. 14 "Then I will make their waters settle And will cause their rivers to run like oil ," Declares the Lord GOD . 15 "When I make the land of Egypt a desolation , And the land is destitute of that which filled it, When I smite all those who live in it, Then they shall know that I am the Lord . 16 "This is a lamentation and they shall chant it. The daughters of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and over all her hordes they shall chant it," declares the Lord GOD .
17 In the twelfth e year , on the fifteenth e of the month , the word of the Lord came to me saying , 18 "Son of man , wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down , her and the daughters of the powerful nations , to the nether world , with those who go down to the pit ; 19 'Whom do you surpass in beauty ? Go down and make your bed with the uncircumcised .' 20 "They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword . She is given over to the sword ; they have drawn her and all her hordes away . 21 "The strong among the mighty ones shall speak of him and his helpers from the midst of Sheol , 'They have gone down , they lie still , the uncircumcised , slain by the sword .' 22 " Assyria is there and all her company ; her graves are round about her. All of them are slain , fallen by the sword , 23 whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave . All of them are slain , fallen by the sword , who spread terror in the land of the living . 24 " Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave ; all of them slain , fallen by the sword , who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth , who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit . 25 "They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes . Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised , slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living ), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit ; they were put in the midst of the slain . 26 " Meshech , Tubal and all their hordes are there ; their graves surround them. All of them were slain by the sword uncircumcised , though they instilled their terror in the land of the living . 27 " Nor do they lie beside the fallen heroes of the uncircumcised , who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war and whose swords were laid under their heads ; but the punishment for their iniquity rested on their bones , though the terror of these heroes was once in the land of the living . 28 "But in the midst of the uncircumcised you will be broken and lie with those slain by the sword . 29 "There also is Edom , its kings and all its princes , who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword ; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit . 30 "There also are the chiefs of the north , all of them, and all the Sidonians , who in spite of the terror resulting from their might , in shame went down with the slain . So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit . 31 "These Pharaoh will see , and he will be comforted for all his hordes slain by the sword , even Pharaoh and all his army ," declares the Lord GOD . 32 "Though I instilled a terror of him in the land of the living , yet he will be made to lie down among the uncircumcised along with those slain by the sword , even Pharaoh and all his hordes ," declares the Lord GOD .
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 .
