Study Desk

"I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick; but those that are fat and strong I will destroy, because I am a shepherd who does what is right.

"You were Israel's constant enemy and let her people be slaughtered in the time of her disaster, the time of final punishment for her sins.

So then, as surely as I, the Sovereign Lord , am the living God, I will pay you back for your anger, your jealousy, and your hate toward my people. They will know that I am punishing you for what you did to them.

the Sovereign Lord , have for them: Israel's enemies gloated and said, ‘Now those ancient hills are ours!'

But on the mountains of Israel the trees will again grow leaves and bear fruit for you, my people Israel. You are going to come home soon.

I condemned them for the way they lived and acted, and I scattered them through foreign countries.

That made me concerned for my holy name, since the Israelites brought disgrace on it everywhere they went.

"Now then, give the Israelites the message that I, the Sovereign Lord , have for them: What I am going to do is not for the sake of you Israelites, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have disgraced in every country where you have gone.

Israel, I want you to know that I am not doing all this for your sake. I want you to feel the shame and disgrace of what you are doing. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken."

The Sovereign Lord says, "I will once again let the Israelites ask me for help, and I will let them increase in numbers like a flock of sheep.

Every fish and bird, every animal large and small, and every human being on the face of the earth will tremble for fear of me. Mountains will fall, cliffs will crumble, and every wall will collapse.

Gog and his army and his allies will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, and I will let their bodies be food for all the birds and wild animals.

The people who live in the cities of Israel will go out and collect the abandoned weapons for firewood. They will build fires with the shields, bows, arrows, spears, and clubs, and have enough to last for seven years.

Everyone in the land will help bury them, and they will be honored for this on the day of my victory. I, the Sovereign Lord , have spoken.

The Sovereign Lord said to me, "Mortal man, call all the birds and animals to come from all around to eat the sacrifice I am preparing for them. It will be a huge feast on the mountains of Israel, where they can eat meat and drink blood.

I gave them what they deserved for their uncleanness and their wickedness, and I turned away from them."

When they are once more living in safety in their own land, with no one to threaten them, they will be able to forget how they were disgraced for having betrayed me.

In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings.

The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple,

and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the Lord 's presence to serve him.