Study Desk

Egypt will be his reward, because he and his army have been following my orders. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

King of Egypt, now listen to what I, the Lord God, am saying about that tree: The tree grew so tall that it reached the sky and became very proud and arrogant.

So I, the Lord God, will reject the tree and hand it over to a foreign ruler, who will punish it for its wickedness.

On the day this tree dies and goes to the world below, I, the Lord God, will command rivers and streams to mourn its death. Every underground spring of water and every river will stop flowing. The mountains in Lebanon will be covered with darkness as a sign of their sorrow, and all the trees in the forest will wither.

King of Egypt, all these things will happen to you and your people! You were like this tree at one time—taller and stronger than anyone on earth. But now you will be chopped down, just as every tree in the garden of Eden must die. You will be sent down to the world of the dead, where you will join the godless and the other victims of violent death. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

King of Egypt, listen to me. I, the Lord God, will catch you in my net and let a crowd of foreigners drag you to shore.

The water will be clear, and streams will be calm. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

This is your warning, and it will be used as a funeral song by foreign women to mourn the death of your people. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

The Lord God says: When your king of Egypt sees all of these graves, he and his soldiers will be glad they are not the only ones suffering.

I sent him to terrify people all over the earth. But he and his army will be killed and buried alongside other godless soldiers in the world of the dead. I, the Lord God, have spoken.

Tell them that as surely as I am the living Lord God, I don't like to see wicked people die. I enjoy seeing them turn from their sins and live. So if the Israelites want to live, they must stop sinning and turn back to me.

As surely as I am the living Lord God, you people in the ruined cities will be killed in battle. Those of you living in the countryside will be eaten by wild animals, and those hiding in caves and on rocky cliffs will die from deadly diseases.

The Lord God said:

Ezekiel, son of man, Israel's leaders are like shepherds taking care of my sheep, the people of Israel. But I want you to condemn these leaders and tell them: I, the Lord God, say you shepherds of Israel are doomed! You take care of yourselves while ignoring my sheep.

Now listen to what I, the living Lord God, am saying to you shepherds. My sheep have been attacked and eaten by wild animals, because you refused to watch them. You never went looking for the lost ones, and you fed yourselves without feeding my sheep.

The Lord God then said: I will look for my sheep and take care of them myself,

The Lord God said to his sheep, the people of Israel: I will carefully watch each one of you to decide which ones are the strong sheep and which ones are weak.

So I, the Lord God, will separate you strong sheep from the weak.

He will be your leader, and I will be your God. I, the Lord , have spoken.

The Lord God said: The people of Israel are my sheep, and I solemnly promise that they will live in peace. I will chase away every wild animal from the desert and the forest, so my sheep will not be afraid.