Study Desk

You eat the fat sheep and use their wool to make clothes for yourselves. You kill the fat sheep, but you don't feed the flock.

You have not made the weak strong. You have not cared for the sick sheep. You have not put bandages on the sheep that were hurt. Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep. No, you were cruel and severe—that's the way you tried to lead the sheep!

"‘And now the sheep are scattered because there was no shepherd. They became food for every wild animal, so they were scattered.

My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My flock was scattered over all the face of the earth. There was no one to search or to look for them.'"

The Lord God says, "I swear that wild animals will catch my sheep, and my people will become food for all those animals because they did not have any real shepherds. My shepherds did not look out for my flock. They did not feed my flock. No, they only killed the sheep and fed themselves!"

The Lord God says, "I am against the shepherds. I will demand my sheep from them. I will fire them. They will not be my shepherds anymore. Then the shepherds will not be able to feed themselves, and I will save my flock from their mouths. Then my sheep will not be food for them."

The Lord God says, "I myself will be their Shepherd. I will search for my sheep and take care of them.

If a shepherd is with his sheep when they begin to wander away, he will go searching for them. In the same way I will search for my sheep. I will save them and bring them back from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

"I will search for the lost sheep. I will bring back the sheep that were scattered and put bandages on the sheep that were hurt. I will make the weak sheep strong, but I will destroy the fat and powerful shepherds. I will feed them the punishment they deserve."

"Son of man, look toward Mount Seir and speak against it for me.

You said, "These two nations and countries, Israel and Judah, will be mine. We will take them for our own." But the Lord is there!

And then you, too, will know that I am the Lord . "I have heard you making fun of Israel's hill country. You said, ‘It is in ruins, just waiting for us to swallow it up.'

"Son of man, speak to the mountains of Israel for me. Tell them to listen to the word of the Lord !

"So speak to the mountains of Israel for me. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘The enemy destroyed your cities and attacked you from every direction. They did this so that you would belong to the other nations. Then people talked and whispered about you.'"

The Lord God says, "I swear, I will let my strong feelings speak for me! I will let Edom and the other nations feel my anger. They took my land for themselves. They really had a good time when they showed how much they hated this land. They took the land for themselves, just so they could destroy it."

"So say these things about the land of Israel. Speak to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams, and to the valleys. Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: ‘I will let my strong feelings and anger speak for me, because you had to suffer the insults from those nations.'"

So this is what the Lord God says: "I am the one making this promise! I swear that the nations around you will have to suffer for those insults.

"But mountains of Israel, you will grow new trees and produce fruit for my people Israel. My people will soon come back.

I will give you many people and animals, and they will grow and have many children. I will bring people to live on you as in the past. I will make it better for you than before. Then you will know that I am the Lord .

I scattered them among the nations and spread them through all the lands. I gave them the punishment they deserved for the bad things they did.