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And the family of Israel will never again depend on Egypt. The Israelites will remember their sin—they will remember that they turned to Egypt for help and not to God, and they will know that I am the Lord God ."

I will give Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar as a reward for the hard work he did for me." This is what the Lord God said!

"Son of man, speak for me. Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: "‘Cry and say, "A terrible day is coming."

That day is near! Yes, the Lord 's day for judging is near. It will be a cloudy day, the time for judging the nations.

So I let a powerful king have that tree. That ruler punished the tree for the bad things it did. I took that tree out of my garden.

This is what the Lord God says: "I made the people cry on the day that tree went down to Sheol. I covered him with the deep ocean. I stopped its rivers and all the water stopped flowing. I made Lebanon mourn for it. All the trees of the field became sick with sadness for that big tree.

I will make many people shocked about you. Their kings will be terrified of you, when I swing my sword before them. They will shake with fear on the day you fall. Each king will be afraid for his own life."

"This is a sad song that people will sing for Egypt. The daughters in other nations will sing this sad song. They will sing it as a sad song about Egypt and all its people." This is what the Lord God said.

"Son of man, cry for the people of Egypt. Lead Egypt and the daughters from powerful nations to the grave. Lead them to the world below where they will be with the other people who went down into that deep hole.

They have made a bed for Elam and all its soldiers who were killed in battle. Elam's army is all around its grave. All those foreigners were killed in battle. When they were alive, they scared people. But they carried their shame with them down into that deep hole. They were put with all the other people who were killed.

If people hear the warning but ignore it, the enemy will capture them and take them away as prisoners. They will be responsible for their own death.

They heard the trumpet, but they ignored the warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had paid attention to the warning, they could have saved their own lives.

"‘But what if the guard sees the enemy soldiers coming, but does not blow the trumpet? Since he doesn't warn the people, the enemy will capture them and take them away as prisoners. They will be taken away because they sinned, but the guard will also be responsible for their deaths.'

"Now, son of man, I am choosing you to be a watchman for the family of Israel. If you hear a message from my mouth, you must warn the people for me.

I might say to you, ‘These evil people will die.' Then you must go warn them for me. If you don't warn them and tell them to change their lives, those evil people will die because they sinned. But I will make you responsible for their deaths.

"So, son of man, speak to the family of Israel for me. They might say, ‘We have sinned and broken the law. Our sins are too heavy to bear. We rot away because of them. What can we do to live?'

They might give back the things they took when they loaned money. They might pay for the things they stole. They might begin to follow the laws that give life and stop doing bad things. Then they will surely live. They will not die.

You still say that I am not fair, but I am telling you the truth. Family of Israel, everyone will be judged for what they do!"

"You must tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘You eat meat with the blood still in it. You look to your idols for help. You murder people, so why should I give you this land?

"Son of man, speak against the shepherds of Israel for me. Speak to them for me. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘You shepherds of Israel have only been feeding yourselves. It will be very bad for you! Why don't you shepherds feed the flock?