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Ezekiel 34

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1 And the word of Jehovah was unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovih* unto the shepherds, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who are shepherds of themselves! Should not the shepherds pasture the flock?

3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourselves with the wool, you sacrifice the nourished; but the flock you pasture not.

4 The sick you have not made·​·firm, neither have you healed him who was·​·sick, neither have you bound·​·up him who was broken, neither have you returned him who was expelled, neither have you sought him who was·​·lost; but with firmness and with severity you have had·​·dominion over them.

5 And they were scattered, from being without a shepherd; and they became food for every animal of the field, and they were scattered.

6 My flock wandered in all the mountains, and on every high hill; and My flock was scattered on all the faces of the earth, and none inquired and none sought them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah;

8 As I am alive, says the Lord Jehovih, surely because My flock was for plunder, and My flock was food to every wild·​·animal of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherds inquire for My flock, but the shepherds pastured for themselves, and pastured not My flock;

9 therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah;

10 thus says the Lord Jehovih; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from pasturing the flock; neither shall the shepherds pasture themselves any·​·more; and I will rescue My flock from their mouth, and they shall not be food for them.

11 For thus says the Lord Jehovih; Behold, I, even I, will then inquire·​·after My flock, and seek· them ·out.

12 As a shepherd is seeking·​·out his drove in the day that he is in the midst of his flock that are exposed*; so will I seek·​·out My flock, and will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered in the day of cloud and dense·​·darkness.

13 And I will bring· them ·out from the people, and bring· them ·together from the lands, and will bring them to their own ground, and pasture them in the mountains of Israel by the channels, and in all the dwellings of the land.

14 I will pasture them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their home be; there shall they lie·​·down in a good home, and in a pasture with·​·oil shall they pasture in the mountains of Israel.

15 I will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie·​·down, says the Lord Jehovih.

16 I will seek him who was lost, and return him who was expelled, and will bind·​·up him who was broken, and will make·​·firm that which was·​·sick; but I will blot·​·out the fat* and the firm; I will pasture them with judgment.

17 And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord Jehovih; Behold, I am judging between the animals·​·of·​·the·​·flock*, between the rams and the he-goats.

18 Seems it a·​·little thing for you to have eaten up the good pasture, but must you trample with your feet the remainder of your pastures? And to have drunk of the submerged waters, must you dirty the remainder with your feet?

19 And as for My flock, they eat that which you have trampled with your feet; and they drink what is dirtied with your feet.

20 Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovih unto them; Behold, I, and I will judge between the well·​·fed animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock and between the lean animal·​·of·​·the·​·flock.

21 Because you have pushed with side and with shoulder, and charged·​·at all the sick with your horns, until you have scattered them outside;

22 and I will save My flock, and they shall no more be for plunder; and I will judge between the animals·​·of·​·the·​·flock*.

23 And I will raise·​·up one shepherd over them, and he shall shepherd them, even My servant David; he shall shepherd them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24 And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My servant David a chief in their midst; I, Jehovah, have spoken.

25 And I will cut for them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil animals to cease from the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests.

26 And I will put them and the places all around My hill as a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come·​·down in its time; there shall be showers of blessing.

27 And the tree of the field shall give her fruit, and the earth shall give her produce, and they shall be securely on their ground, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the braces of their yoke, and rescued them from the hand of those who served themselves on them.

28 And they shall no more be plunder to the nations, neither shall the wild·​·animal of the land devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall frighten them.

29 And I will raise·​·up for them a plant for a name, and they shall be no more consumed* by famine in the land, and they shall no more bear the humiliation of the nations.

30 And they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord Jehovih.

31 And you are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are man, and I am your God, says the Lord Jehovih.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Komentář

 

Good

  
To Charity, by João Zeferino da Costa

It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it's true! The case is this: The Lord is love itself given form and expression as wisdom itself, and that Divine Love and Divine Wisdom flow down into us, into the world and into the Bible in an unending stream with endless variety. Divine Love gives rise to our loves, our affections, our desires for good and the joy we can feel; Divine Wisdom gives rise to facts, knowledge, intelligence, understanding and human wisdom. And the more we can bring those two aspects of our lives into harmony, the more elevated we can become -- which will in turn make us happier, more useful, and ultimately more angelic.