Study Desk

Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was no longer unable to speak.

"Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.'

"But as for you, son of man, your people (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another, ‘Come hear the word that comes from the Lord .'

They come to you in crowds, and they sit in front of you as my people. They hear your words, but do not obey them. For they talk lustfully, and their heart is set on their own advantage.

Realize that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician. They hear your words, but they do not obey them.

You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep!

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them.

As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord , my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep,

I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them—with judgment!

"‘But you, mountains of Israel, will grow your branches, and bear your fruit for my people Israel; for they will arrive soon.

But when they arrived in the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name. It was said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord , yet they have departed from his land.'

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy reputation which you profaned among the nations where you went.

As I watched, I saw tendons on them, then muscles appeared, and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath in them.

Then he brought me back by way of the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces east, but it was shut.

You have not kept charge of my holy things, but you have assigned foreigners to keep charge of my sanctuary for you.

"‘But the Levites who went far from me, straying off from me after their idols when Israel went astray, will be responsible for their sin.

"‘But the Levitical priests, the descendants of Zadok who kept the charge of my sanctuary when the people of Israel went astray from me, will approach me to minister to me; they will stand before me to offer me the fat and the blood, declares the sovereign Lord .

They must not marry a widow or a divorcee, but they may marry a virgin from the house of Israel or a widow who is a priest's widow.

of the land. This will be his property in Israel. My princes will no longer oppress my people, but the land will be allotted to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

"‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened.