The Living Bible (268 page)

Ezekiel
33

Once again a message came to me from the Lord. He said:

    
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 “Son of dust, tell your people: ‘When I bring an army against a country, and the people of that land choose a watchman,
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 and when he sees the army coming and blows the alarm to warn them,
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 then anyone who hears the alarm but refuses to heed it—well, if he dies, the fault is his own.
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 For he heard the warning and wouldn’t listen; the fault is his. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
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 But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm and warn the people, he is responsible for their deaths. They will die in their sins, but I will charge the watchman with their deaths.’

    
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 “So with you, son of dust. I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel; therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.
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 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will die!’ and you don’t tell him what I say, so that he does not repent—that wicked person will die in his sins, but I will hold you responsible for his death.
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 But if you warn him to repent and he doesn’t, he will die in his sins, and you will not be responsible.

    
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 “O people of Israel, you are saying: ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we pine away with guilt. How can we live?’
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 Tell them: ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked;
I desire that the wicked turn from his evil ways and live.
Turn, turn from your wickedness, for why will you die, O Israel?
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 For the good works of a righteous man will not save him if he turns to sin; and the sins of an evil man will not destroy him if he repents and turns from his sins.’

    
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 “I have said the good man will live. But if he sins, expecting his past goodness to save him, then none of his good deeds will be remembered. I will destroy him for his sins.
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 And when I tell the wicked he will die, and then he turns from his sins and does what is fair and right—
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 if he gives back the borrower’s pledge, returns what he has stolen, and walks along the paths of right, not doing evil—he shall surely live. He shall not die.
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 None of his past sins shall be brought up against him, for he has turned to the good and shall surely live.

    
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 “And yet your people are saying the Lord isn’t fair. The trouble is
they
aren’t fair.
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 For again I say, when the good man turns to evil, he shall die.
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 But if the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what’s fair and just, he shall live.
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 Yet you are saying the Lord isn’t fair. But I will judge each of you in accordance with his deeds.”

    
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 In the eleventh year
*
of our exile, late in December, one of those who escaped from Jerusalem arrived to tell me, “The city has fallen!”
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 Now the hand of the Lord had been upon me the previous evening, and he had healed me so that I could speak again by the time the man arrived.

    
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 Then this message came to me:

    
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 “Son of dust, the scattered remnants of Judah living among the ruined cities keep saying, ‘Abraham was only one man and yet he got possession of the whole country! We are many, so we should certainly be able to get it back!’
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 But the Lord God says: ‘You are powerless, for you do evil! You eat meat with the blood, you worship idols, and murder. Do you suppose I’ll let you have the land?
²⁶
 Murderers! Idolators! Adulterers! Should you possess the land?’

    
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 “Tell them, ‘The Lord God says: As I live, surely those living in the ruins shall die by the sword. Those living in the open fields shall be eaten by wild animals, and those in the forts and caves shall die of disease.
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 I will desolate the land and her pride, and her power shall come to an end. And the mountain villages of Israel shall be so ruined that no one will even travel through them.
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 When I have ruined the land because of their sins, then they shall know I am the Lord.’

    
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 “Son of dust, your people are whispering behind your back. They talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors, saying, ‘Come on, let’s have some fun! Let’s go hear him tell us what the Lord is saying!’
*
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 So they come as though they are sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them to; they talk very sweetly about loving the Lord, but with their hearts they are loving their money.
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 You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings lovely songs with a beautiful voice or plays well on an instrument. They hear what you say but don’t pay any attention to it!
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 But when all these terrible things happen to them—as they will—then they will know a prophet has been among them.”

Ezekiel
34

Then this message came to me from the Lord:

    
²
 “Son of dust, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Say to them, ‘The Lord God says to you: Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves instead of their flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed the sheep?
³
 You eat the best food and wear the finest clothes, but you let your flocks starve.
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 You haven’t taken care of the weak, nor tended the sick, nor bound up the broken bones, nor gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty.
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 So they were scattered, without a shepherd. They have become a prey to every animal that comes along.
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 My sheep wandered through the mountains and hills and over the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or care about them.

    
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 “‘Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:
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 As I live, says the Lord God, you abandoned my flock, leaving them to be attacked and destroyed, and you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn’t search for them. You fed yourselves and let them starve;
^9-10
 therefore, I am against the shepherds, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock—and take away their right to eat. I will save my flock from being taken for their food.’”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “I will search and find my sheep.
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 I will be like a shepherd looking for his flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places they were scattered in that dark and cloudy day.
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 And I will bring them back from among the people and nations where they were, back home to their own land of Israel, and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel and by the rivers where the land is fertile and good.
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 Yes, I will give them good pasture on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in peace and feed in luscious mountain pastures.
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 I myself will be the Shepherd of my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace,” the Lord God says. “I will seek my lost ones, those who strayed away, and bring them safely home again. I will put splints and bandages upon their broken limbs and heal the sick. And I will destroy the powerful, fat shepherds; I will feed them, yes—feed them punishment!

    
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 “And as for you, O my flock—my people,” the Lord God says, “I will judge you and separate good from bad, sheep from goats.

    
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 “Is it a small thing to you, O evil shepherds, that you not only keep the best of the pastures for yourselves, but trample down the rest? That you take the best water for yourselves and muddy the rest with your feet?
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 All that’s left for my flock is what you’ve trampled down; all they have to drink is water that you’ve fouled.”

    
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 Therefore the Lord God says: “I will surely judge between these fat shepherds and their scrawny sheep.
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 For these shepherds push and butt and crowd my sick and hungry flock until they’re scattered far away.
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 So I myself will save my flock; no more will they be picked on and destroyed. And I will notice which is plump and which is thin, and why!

    
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 “And I will set one Shepherd over all my people, even my Servant David. He shall feed them and be a Shepherd to them.

    
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 “And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my Servant David shall be a Prince among my people. I, the Lord, have spoken it.

    
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 “I will make a peace pact with them and drive away the dangerous animals from the land, so that my people can safely camp in the wildest places and sleep safely in the woods.
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 I will make my people and their homes around my hill a blessing. And there shall be showers, showers of blessing, for I will not shut off the rains but send them in their seasons.
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 Their fruit trees and fields will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken off their chains of slavery and delivered them from those who profiteered at their expense, they shall know I am the Lord.
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 No more will other nations conquer them nor wild animals attack. They shall live in safety and no one shall make them afraid.

    
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 “And I will raise up a notable Vine (the Messiah),
*
in Israel so that my people will never again go hungry nor be shamed by heathen conquest.
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 In this way they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the people of Israel, are my people,” says the Lord God.
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 “You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my men and I am your God, so says the Lord.”