And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

"Son of man, speak to {your people}, and you must say to them, 'A land, if I bring over it a sword and the people of the land take a man, one from their number, and they appoint him for them as a watchman,

and if he notices that violence is approaching and sounds an alarm to warn the people,

And the hearer hath heard the voice of the trumpet, and he hath not taken warning, And come in doth the sword, and taketh him away, His blood is on his head.

He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood is upon him: whereas had he taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.

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

But if you make clear to the evil-doer the danger of his way for the purpose of turning him from it, and he is not turned from his way, death will overtake him in his evil-doing, but your life will be safe.

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

When I say to the righteous that he shall certainly live, and he trusteth to his righteousness and doeth what is wrong, none of his righteous acts shall be remembered; but in his unrighteousness which he hath done, in it shall he die.

Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;

if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, doing nothing that is wrong; he shall certainly live, he shall not die.

None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and doeth what is wrong, then he shall die therein.

But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.

Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.

And the hand of Jehovah hath been unto me in the evening, before the coming in of the escaped one, and He openeth my mouth till the coming in unto me in the morning, and opened is my mouth, and I have not been silent again.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.

Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “You eat meat with the blood in it and raise your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Should you take possession of the land?

You rely on your sword [as your security]; you commit outrageous and disgraceful acts and each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Should you then take possession of the land?”’

Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.

Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

So {when it comes}, look! It is coming! And [then] they will know that a prophet was in the midst of them."

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?

And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

Go astray do My flock on all the mountains, And on every high hill, And on all the face of the land have My flock been scattered, And there is none inquiring, and none seeking.

As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will {no longer} feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them."

“For this is what the Lord God says: See, I Myself will search for My flock and look for them.

As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

With good pasture I do feed them, And on mountains of the high place of Israel is their habitation, There do they lie down in a good habitation, And fat pastures they enjoy on mountains of Israel.

I will tend My flock and let them lie down.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

I will go in search of that which had gone wandering from the way, and will get back that which had been sent in flight, and will put bands on that which was broken, and give strength to that which was ill: but the fat and the strong I will give up to destruction; I will give them for their food the punishment which is theirs by right.

And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

Is it too small a thing unto you to have eaten up the good pastures, but ye must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; and to have drunk of the settled waters, but ye must foul the rest with your feet?

And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, it is I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

forsomuch as ye have shot the weak sheep upon the sides and shoulders, and run upon them with your horns, so long till ye have utterly scattered them abroad.

And have raised up over them one shepherd, And he hath fed them -- my servant David, He doth feed them, and he is their shepherd,

And I, Yahweh, I will be for them {as God}, and my servant David [will be] a leader in the midst of them. I, Yahweh, I have spoken.

And the tree of the field shall yield his fruit And The land, shall yield her increase, And they shall remain on their own sell in security,- So shall they know that I, am Yahweh, When I have broken a the bars of their yoke, And shall deliver them out of the hand of them who have been using them as slaves.

And they are no more a prey to nations, And the beast of the earth devoureth them not, And they have dwelt confidently, And there is none troubling.

I'm going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community.

Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“You are My flock, the human flock of My pasture, and I am your God.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

Say to it: This is what the Lord God says:

Look! I am against you, Mount Seir.
I will stretch out My hand against you
and make you a desolate waste.

Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],

Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.

And I have given mount Seir for a desolation and an astonishment, And have cut off from it him who is passing over and him who is returning,

And I will fill his mountains with his slain, - As for thy hills and thy hollows and all thy channels, they who are thrust through by the sword shall fall therein:

"Because you have claimed, "These two nations and these two lands are going to belong to me, and we will take possession of them, even though the LORD is there,'

Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.

And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.

Thus the Lord Yahweh says, '{As the whole world rejoices}, I will make you desolation.

As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

"Now as for you, Son of Man, prophesy to Israel's mountains and tell them, "Listen to this message from the LORD, you mountains of Israel:

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because the enemy said against you, Aha, and the high places of old for a possession have been to us,

therefore, prophesy and say: This is what the Lord God says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you from every side, so that you became a possession for the rest of the nations and an object of people’s gossip and slander,

Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh; thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the river channels and to the valleys and to the ruins that [are] desolate and to the cities that [are] abandoned [and] that have become as plunder and as scorn for the remainder of the nations that [are] from all around.

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{Certainly} in the fire of my passion I spoke against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who made my land as possession, because of its pastureland for plunder, for themselves in all of [the] joy of their whole heart [and] in [their] inner disdain."

Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: This is what the Lord God says: Look, I speak in My burning zeal because you have endured the insults of the nations.

Therefore this is what the Lord God says: I swear that the nations all around you will endure their own insults.

“You, mountains of Israel, will produce your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel, since their arrival is near.

And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring forth fruit; and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, yea, I will make it better than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

And I will send over you my people Israel, and they will take possession of you, and you will be for them as an inheritance, and {you will no longer bereave them of their children}."

“This is what the Lord God says: Because people are saying to you, ‘You devour men and deprive your nation of children,’

therefore, you will no longer devour men and deprive your nation of children.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

“I will no longer allow the insults of the nations to be heard against you, and you will not have to endure the reproach of the peoples anymore; you will no longer cause your nation to stumble.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

Then I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them to other lands, just as their lifestyles and behavior deserved. That's how I judged them.

“Therefore, say to the house of Israel: This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went.

And I have sanctified My great name, That is profaned among nations, That ye have polluted in your midst, And known have the nations that I am Jehovah, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, In My being sanctified in you before your eyes.

And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you will be to me [as] a people, and I will be to you as God.

Then you'll remember your lifestyles and practices that were not good. You'll hate yourselves as you look at your own iniquities and loathsome practices.

It is not for your sake that I will act”—the declaration of the Lord God—“let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!

“This is what the Lord God says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.

And the desolate land is tilled, Instead of which it was a desolation before the eyes of every passer by,

And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Yet this I am required, By the house of Israel to do to them, I multiply them as a flock of men,

As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

There hath been upon me a hand of Jehovah, and He taketh me forth in the Spirit of Jehovah, and doth place me in the midst of the valley, and it is full of bones,

And he said to me, Son of man, is it possible for these bones to come to life? And I made answer, and said, It is for you to say, O Lord.

This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live.

So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

And I beheld, and lo, on them are sinews, and flesh hath come up, and cover them doth skin over above -- and spirit there is none in them.

He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!”

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel.

I will put My Spirit in you, and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the Lord.