Study Desk

No human being or animal will walk through it. For forty years nothing will live there.

I will make Egypt the most desolate country in the world. For forty years the cities of Egypt will lie in ruins, ruins worse than those of any other city. I will make the Egyptians refugees. They will flee to every country and live among other peoples."

Israel will never again depend on them for help. Egypt's fate will remind Israel how wrong it was to rely on them. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord ."

"Mortal man," he said, "King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia launched an attack on Tyre. He made his soldiers carry such heavy loads that their heads were rubbed bald and their shoulders were worn raw, but neither the king nor his army got anything for all their trouble.

I am giving him Egypt in payment for his services, because his army was working for me. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken.

The day is near, the day when the Lord will act, A day of clouds and trouble for the nations.

so I have rejected it and will let a foreign ruler have it. He will give that tree what it deserves for its wickedness.

What I do to you will shock many nations. When I swing my sword, kings will shudder with fright. On the day you fall, all of them will tremble in fear for their own lives."

This solemn warning will become a funeral song. The women of the nations will sing it to mourn for Egypt and all its people. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken."

"Mortal man," he said, "mourn for all the many people of Egypt. Send them down with the other powerful nations to the world of the dead.

If someone hears it but pays no attention and the enemy comes and kills him, then he is to blame for his own death.

If, however, the lookout sees the enemy coming and does not sound the alarm, the enemy will come and kill those sinners, but I will hold the lookout responsible for their death.

"Now, mortal man, I am making you a lookout for the nation of Israel. You must pass on to them the warnings I give you.

If I announce that an evil person is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, then he will die, still a sinner, and I will hold you responsible for his death.

for example, if he returns the security he took for a loan or gives back what he stole—if he stops sinning and follows the laws that give life, he will not die, but live.

When someone righteous stops doing good and starts doing evil, he will die for it.

When I punish the people for their sins and make the country a wasteland, then they will know that I am the Lord ."

You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly.

So my sheep wandered over the high hills and the mountains. They were scattered over the face of the earth, and no one looked for them or tried to find them.

"I, the Sovereign Lord , tell you that I myself will look for my sheep and take care of them