Study Desk

For this is what the Lord GOD says: 'The sword of the king of Babylon will come against you!

This is the lament they will chant for her; the daughters of the nations will chant it. Over Egypt and all her multitudes they will chant it, declares the Lord GOD."

"Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign to the depths of the earth both her and the daughters of the mighty nations, with those who descend to the Pit:

Among the slain they prepare a resting place for Elam with all her hordes, with her graves all around her. All of them are uncircumcised, slain by the sword, although their terror was once spread in the land of the living. They bear their disgrace with those who descend to the Pit. They are placed among the slain.

For I will spread My terror in the land of the living, so that Pharaoh and all his multitude will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword, declares the Lord GOD.'"

But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one is taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.'

As for you, O son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word from My mouth and give them warning from Me.

If I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood.

Now as for you, son of man, tell the house of Israel that this is what they have said: 'Our transgressions and our sins are heavy upon us, and we are wasting away because of them! How can we live?'

Say to them: 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'

if he restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity-he will surely live; he will not die.

If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he will die for it.

As for you, son of man, your people are talking about you near the city walls and in the doorways of their houses. One speaks to another, each saying to his brother, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD!'

You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered, they became food for all the wild beasts.

My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.'

'As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,

This is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My flock from them and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.'

For this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.

As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.