Study Desk

Merchants from Sheba and Raamah gave you excellent spices, precious stones, and gold in exchange for your products.

mourning for you. They show their sorrow by putting dust on their heads and rolling in ashes;

In their grief they sing a funeral song for you: "Tyre, you were greater than all other cities. But now you lie in silence at the bottom of the sea.

Ezekiel, son of man, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre and tell him I am saying: At one time, you were perfect, intelligent, and good-looking.

You lived in the garden of Eden and wore jewelry made of brightly colored gems and precious stones. They were all set in gold and were ready for you on the day you were born.

that I am saying: King of Egypt, you were like a giant crocodile lying in a river. You acted as though you owned the Nile and made it for yourself. But now I, the Lord God, am your enemy!

When they reached out to you for support, you broke in half, cutting their arms and making them fall.

No human or animal will even dare travel through Egypt, because no sign of life will be found there for forty years.

My own people Israel will never again depend on your nation. In fact, when the Israelites remember what happened to you Egyptians, they will realize how wrong they were to turn to you for help. Then the Israelites will know that I, the Lord God, did these things.

because you will soon be punished! That will be a time of darkness and doom for all nations.

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

Ezekiel, son of man, mourn for the Egyptians and condemn them to the world of the dead, where they will be buried alongside the people of other powerful nations.

But suppose the person watching fails to sound the warning signal. The enemy will attack and kill some of the sinful people in that country, and I, the Lord , will hold that person responsible for their death.

Ezekiel, I have appointed you to stand watch for the people of Israel. So listen to what I say, then warn them for me.

When I tell wicked people they will die because of their sins, you must warn them to turn from their sinful ways. But if you refuse to warn them, you are responsible for their death.

The Lord said: Ezekiel, son of man, the people of Israel are complaining that the punishment for their sins is more than they can stand. They have lost all hope for survival, and they blame me.

For example, they need to return anything they have taken as security for a loan and anything they have stolen. Then if they stop doing evil and start obeying my Law, they will live.

But the Israelites still think I am unfair. So warn them that they will be punished for what they have done.

You drink their milk and use their wool to make your clothes. Then you butcher the best ones for food. But you don't take care of the flock!

You have never protected the weak ones or healed the sick ones or bandaged those that get hurt. You let them wander off and never look for those that get lost. You are cruel and mean to my sheep.