The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

And ye have said: The way of the Lord is not pondered, Each according to his ways do I judge you, O house of Israel.'

And it cometh to pass, in the twelfth year — in the tenth [month], in the fifth of the month — of our removal, come in unto me doth one who is escaped from Jerusalem, saying, 'The city hath been 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, the inhabitants of these wastes on the ground of Israel are speaking, saying: Alone hath been Abraham — and he possesseth the land, and we [are] many — to us hath the land been given for a possession.

Therefore say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: With the blood ye do eat, And your eyes ye lift up unto your idols, And blood ye shed, and the land ye inherit!

Ye have stood on your sword, Ye have done abomination, Each the wife of his neighbour ye have defiled, And the land ye possess!

Thus dost thou say unto them: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live — do not they who [are] in the wastes by the sword fall? And they who [are] on the face of the field, To the beast I have given for food, And they who are in strongholds and in caves by pestilence die.

And I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, And ceased hath the excellency of its strength, And desolated have been mountains of Israel, Without any one passing through.

And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My making the land a desolation and an astonishment, For all their abominations that they have done.

And thou, son of man, the sons of thy people who are speaking about thee, By the walls, and in openings of the houses, Have spoken one with another, each with his brother, Saying: Come in, I pray you, And hear what [is] the word that cometh out from Jehovah.

And they come in unto thee as the coming in of a people, And they sit before thee — My people, And have heard thy words, and they do them not, For doting loves with their mouth they are making, After their dishonest gain their heart is going.

And lo, thou [art] to them as a singer of doting loves, A pleasant voice, and playing well on an instrument, And they have heard thy words, and they are not doing them.

And in its coming in — lo, it hath come, And they have known that a prophet hath been in their midst!'

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

'Son of man, prophesy concerning shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and thou hast said unto them: To the shepherds, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Woe [to] the shepherds of Israel, Who have been feeding themselves! The flock do not the shepherds feed?

The fat ye do eat, and the wool ye put on, The fed one ye slaughter, the flock ye feed not.

The weak ye have not strengthened, And the sick one ye have not healed, And the broken ye have not bound up, And the driven away have not brought back, And the lost ye have not sought, And with might ye have ruled them and with rigour.

And they are scattered from want of a shepherd, And are for food to every beast of the field, Yea, they are 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.

Therefore, shepherds, hear a word of Jehovah:

I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, If not, because of My flock being for a prey, Yea, My flock is for food to every beast of the field, Because there is no shepherd, And My shepherds have not sought My flock, And the shepherds do feed themselves, And My flock they have not fed.

Therefore, O shepherds, hear a word of Jehovah:

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against the shepherds, And have required My flock from their hand, And caused them to cease from feeding the flock, And no more do the shepherds feed themselves, And I have delivered My flock from their mouth, And they are not to them for food.

For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I — even I, have required My flock, And I have sought it out.

As a shepherd's searching of his drove, In the day of his being in the midst of his scattered flock, so I do seek My flock, And have delivered them out of all places, Whither they have been scattered, In a day of cloud and thick darkness.

And brought them out from the peoples, And have gathered them from the lands, And brought them unto their own ground, And have fed them on mountains of Israel, By streams, and by all dwellings of the land.

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 feed My flock, and cause them to lie down, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

The lost I seek, and the driven away bring back, And the broken I bind up, and the sick I strengthen, And the fat and the strong I destroy, I feed it with judgment.

And you, My flock, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am judging between sheep and sheep, Between rams and he-goats.

Is it a little thing for you — the good pasture ye enjoy, And the remnant of your pasture ye tread down with your feet, And a depth of waters ye do drink, And the remainder with your feet ye trample,

And My flock the trodden thing of your feet consumeth, And the trampled thing of your feet drinketh?

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah to them: Lo, I — even I, have judged between fat sheep and lean sheep.

Because with side and with shoulder ye thrust away, And with your horns push all the diseased, Till ye have scattered them to the out-place,

And I have given safety to My flock, And they are not any more for prey, And I have judged between sheep and sheep.

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, Jehovah, I am their God, And My servant David prince in their midst, I, Jehovah, have spoken.

And I have made for them a covenant of peace, And caused evil beasts to cease out of the land, And they have dwelt in a wilderness confidently, And they have slept in forests.

And I have given them, and the suburbs of my hill, a blessing, And caused the shower to come down in its season, Showers of blessing they are.

And given hath the tree of the field its fruit, And the land doth give her increase, And they have been on their land confident, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My breaking the bands of their yoke, And I have delivered them from the hand of those laying service on them.

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.

And I have raised for them a plant for renown, And they are no more consumed by hunger in the land, And they bear no more the shame of the nations.

And they have known that I, Jehovah, their God, [am] with them, And they — the house of Israel — My people, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, Men ye [are] — I [am] your God, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

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

'Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

and thou hast said to it: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, O mount Seir, And have stretched out My hand against thee, And made thee a desolation and an astonishment.

Thy cities a waste I make, and thou art a desolation, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.

Because of thy having an enmity age-during, And thou dost saw the sons of Israel, By the hands of the sword, In the time of their calamity, In the time of the iniquity of the end:

Therefore, I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Surely for blood I do appoint thee, And blood doth pursue thee, If blood thou hast not hated, Blood also doth 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 filled his mountains with his wounded, Thy hills, and thy valleys, and all thy streams, The pierced of the sword fall into them.

Desolations age-during I make thee, And thy cities do not return, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

Because of thy saying: The two nations and the two lands are mine, and we have possessed it, And Jehovah hath been there;

Therefore, I live — an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And I have done according to thine anger, And according to thine envy, With which thou hast wrought, Because of thy hatred against them, And I have been known among them when I judge thee.

And thou hast known that I — Jehovah, I have heard all thy despisings that thou hast spoken Against mountains of Israel, saying: A desolation, to us they were given for food.

And ye magnify yourselves against Me with your mouth, And have made abundant against Me your words, I — I have heard.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: According to the rejoicing of the whole land, A desolation I make of thee.

According to thy joy at the inheritance of the house of Israel because of desolation, So I do to thee — a desolation thou art, O mount Seir, and all Edom — all of it, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah!

And thou, son of man, prophesy unto mountains of Israel, and thou hast said, O mountains of Israel, hear a word of Jehovah.

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 thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because, of desolating, And of swallowing you up from round about, For your being a possession to the remnant of the nations, And ye are taken up on the tip of the tongue, And [are] an evil report of the people.

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, Hear a word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus said the Lord Jehovah, to mountains, and to hills, To streams, and to valleys, And to wastes that [are] desolate, And to cities that are forsaken, That have been for a prey, And for a scorn, to the remnant of the nations who [are] round about.

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Have I not, in the fire of My jealousy, Spoken against the remnant of the nations, And against Edom — all of it, Who gave My land to themselves for a possession, With the joy of the whole heart — with despite of soul, For the sake of casting it out for a prey?

Therefore, prophesy concerning the ground of Israel, And thou hast said to mountains, and to hills, To streams, and to valleys, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I, in My jealousy, and in My fury, I have spoken, Because the shame of nations ye have borne.

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I — I have lifted up My hand, Do not — the nations who [are] with you from round about — they their own shame bear?

And ye, O mountains of Israel, Your branch ye give out, and your fruits ye bear for My people Israel, For they have drawn near to come.

For, lo, I [am] for you, and have turned to you, And ye have been tilled and sown.

And I have multiplied on you men, All the house of Israel — all of it, And the cities have been inhabited, And the wastes are built.

And I have multiplied on you man and beast, And they have multiplied and been fruitful, And I have caused you to dwell according to your former states, And I have done better than at your beginnings, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah.

And I have caused man to walk over you, — My people Israel, And they possess thee, and thou hast been to them for an inheritance, And thou dost add no more to bereave them.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because they are saying to you: A devourer of men [art] thou, And a bereaver of thy nations thou hast been,

Therefore, man thou devourest no more, And thy nations thou causest not to stumble any more, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

And I proclaim not unto thee any more the shame of the nations, And the reproach of peoples thou bearest no more, And thy nations stumble not any more, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

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

'Son of man, The house of Israel are dwelling on their land, And they defile it by their way and by their doings, As the uncleanness of a separated one hath their way been before Me.

And I do pour out My fury upon them For the blood that they shed on the land, And with their idols they have defiled it.

And I scatter them among nations, And they are spread through lands, According to their way, and according to their doings, I have judged them.

And one goeth in unto the nations whither they have gone, And they pollute My holy name by saying to them, The people of Jehovah [are] these, And from His land they have gone forth.

And I have pity on My holy name, That the house of Israel have polluted among nations whither they have gone in.

Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Not for your sake am I working, O house of Israel, But — for My holy name, That ye have polluted among nations whither ye have gone in.

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 I have taken you out of the nations, And have gathered you out of all the lands, And I have brought you in unto your land,

And I have sprinkled over you clean water, And ye have been clean; From all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols, I do cleanse you.

And I have given to you a new heart, And a new spirit I give in your midst, And I have turned aside the heart of stone out of your flesh, And I have given to you a heart of flesh.

And My Spirit I give in your midst, And I have done this, so that in My statutes ye walk, And My judgments ye keep, and have done them.

And ye have dwelt in the land that I have given to your fathers, And ye have been to Me for a people, And I — I am to you for God.

And I have saved you from all your uncleannesses, And I have called unto the corn, and multiplied it, And I have put no famine upon you.

And I have multiplied the fruit of the tree, And the increase of the field, So that ye receive not any more a reproach of famine among nations.

And ye have remembered your ways that [are] evil, And your doings that [are] not good, And have been loathsome in your own faces, For your iniquities, and for your abominations.

Not for your sake am I working, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Be it known to you, Be ashamed and confounded, because of your ways, O house of Israel.

Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of My cleansing you from all your iniquities, I have caused the cities to be inhabited, And the wastes have been built,

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

And they have said: This land, that was desolated, Hath been as the garden of Eden, And the cities — the wasted, And the desolated, and the broken down, Fenced places have remained.

And known have the nations who are left round about you, That I Jehovah have built the thrown down, I have planted the desolated: I Jehovah have spoken, and I have done [it].

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 a flock of holy ones, as a flock of Jerusalem, In her appointed seasons, So are the waste cities full of flocks of men, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah!'

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 causeth me to pass over by them, all round about, and lo, very many [are] on the face of the valley, and lo, very dry.