Ezekiel 34

• 1. Then this message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: Destruction is certain for you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep?
• 3. You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.
• 4. You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the broken bones. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty.
• 5. So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd. They are easy prey for any wild animal.
• 6. They have wandered through the mountains and hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.
• 7. "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
• 8. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. Though you were my shepherds, you didn't search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.
• 9. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.
• 10. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, along with their right to feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey.
• 11. "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.
• 12. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.
• 13. I will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers in all the places where people live.
• 14. Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in lush mountain pastures.
• 15. I myself will tend my sheep and cause them to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 16. I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes--feed them justice!
• 17. "And as for you, my flock, my people, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, separating the sheep from the goats.
• 18. Is it not enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Is it not enough for you to take the best water for yourselves? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
• 19. All that is left for my flock to eat is what you have trampled down. All they have to drink is water that you have fouled.
• 20. "Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.
• 21. For you fat sheep push and butt and crowd my sick and hungry flock until they are scattered to distant lands.
• 22. So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused and destroyed. And I will judge between one sheep and another.
• 23. And I will set one shepherd over them, even my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.
• 24. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 25. "I will make a covenant of peace with them and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then my people will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.
• 26. I will cause my people and their homes around my holy hill to be a blessing. And I will send showers, showers of blessings, which will come just when they are needed.
• 27. The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.
• 28. They will no longer be prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer attack them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
• 29. "And I will give them a land famous for its crops, so my people will never again go hungry or be shamed by the scorn of foreign nations.
• 30. In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 31. You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God, says the Sovereign LORD."

Ezekiel 35

• 1. Again a message came to me from the LORD:
• 2. "Son of man, turn toward Mount Seir, and prophesy against its people.
• 3. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am your enemy, O Mount Seir, and I will raise my fist against you to destroy you completely.
• 4. I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you will know that I am the LORD.
• 5. Your continual hatred for the people of Israel led you to butcher them when they were helpless, when I had already punished them for all their sins.
• 6. As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, since you show no distaste for blood, I will give you a bloodbath of your own. Your turn has come!
• 7. I will make Mount Seir utterly desolate, killing off all who try to escape and any who return.
• 8. I will fill your mountains with the dead. Your hills, your valleys, and your streams will be filled with people slaughtered by the sword.
• 9. I will make you desolate forever. Your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
• 10. "For you said, `The lands of Israel and Judah will be ours. We will take possession of them. What do we care that the LORD is there!'
• 11. Therefore, as surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine. I will punish you for all your acts of anger, envy, and hatred. And I will bring honor to my name by what I do to you.
• 12. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have heard every contemptuous word you spoke against the mountains of Israel. For you said, `They have been destroyed; they have been given to us as food to eat!'
• 13. In saying that, you boasted proudly against me, and I have heard it all!
• 14. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.
• 15. You rejoiced at the desolation of Israel's inheritance. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, you people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! Then you will know that I am the LORD!

Ezekiel 36

• 1. "Son of man, prophesy to Israel's mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD!
• 2. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, `Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!'
• 3. Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, and now you are possessed by many nations. You are the object of much mocking and slander.
• 4. Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by foreign nations everywhere.
• 5. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My jealous anger is on fire against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.
• 6. "Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am full of fury because you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.
• 7. Therefore, says the Sovereign LORD, I have raised my hand and sworn an oath that those nations will soon have their turn at suffering shame.
• 8. But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people's return--and they will be coming home again soon!
• 9. See, I am concerned for you, and I will come to help you. Your ground will be tilled and your crops planted.
• 10. I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.
• 11. Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
• 12. I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their inheritance. You will never again devour their children.
• 13. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Now the other nations taunt you, saying, `Israel is a land that devours her own people!'
• 14. But you will never again devour your people or bereave your nation, says the Sovereign LORD.
• 15. I will not allow those foreign nations to sneer at you, and you will no longer be shamed by them or cause your nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD."
• 16. Then this further message came to me from the LORD:
• 17. "Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their evil deeds. To me their conduct was as filthy as a bloody rag.
• 18. They polluted the land with murder and by worshiping idols, so I poured out my fury on them.
• 19. I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived.
• 20. But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought dishonor to my holy name. For the nations said, `These are the people of the LORD, and he couldn't keep them safe in his own land!'
• 21. Then I was concerned for my holy name, which had been dishonored by my people throughout the world.
• 22. "Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back again but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you dishonored while you were scattered among the nations.
• 23. I will show how holy my great name is--the name you dishonored among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD.
• 24. For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
• 25. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.
• 26. And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.
• 27. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
• 28. "And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
• 29. I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops, and I will abolish famine in the land.
• 30. I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.
• 31. Then you will remember your past sins and hate yourselves for all the evil things you did.
• 32. But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
• 33. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring people to live in your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
• 34. The fields that used to lie empty and desolate--a shock to all who passed by--will again be farmed.
• 35. And when I bring you back, people will say, `This godforsaken land is now like Eden's garden! The ruined cities now have strong walls, and they are filled with people!'
• 36. Then the nations all around--all those still left--will know that I, the LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD, have promised this, and I will do it.
• 37. "This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests.
• 38. I will multiply them like the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD."

New Living Translation: 290 of 324 days.