Ezekiel - Ferrar Fenton Bible Translation page 581

EZEKIEL.

33·——21 34—»—13

2I 22 you say, ‘ The path of theALMxGH’1‘Y is not straight !’ House of Israel, I will sentence every one of you by his own courses ®hz Tull uf gerusnlcm smh et RBSHHQZ 1I]JUIt U]2 @2wK. It was in the twelfth year, on the

tenth ofthe fifth month,of our trans- portation, a refugee from jerusalem 'I`he city has But the hand of the LORD had been upon me in the evening before the refugee came, and He had opened my mouth when he came to me in the morning, and I could speak, being no longer dumb. So the commend of the Ev1£R—Llv1NG came to me to say: ‘Son of Adam! The inhabitants

of the ash·heaps in the land of Israel exclaim, and say : ‘Abraham was an individual, yet possessed the country ; and we are many. Give us the

possession of the country} There- fore tellthem,‘ThussaystheM1GHTY LORD: Because of the blood you eat, and the raising of your eyes to idols, and the blood you have shed,—-ought you to possess the country? You stand on your ruins practising de· pravities,—-—and each corrupts the wife of his neighbour !—-yet you would possess the country? ’ ‘ Tell them this, ‘Thus says the

Micrrrv Loup: By My life, those in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and those in the open field I will give to the beasts for food! and those in forts and caves shall die of disease. I will also make the country desolate and waste, and her proud power shall fail, and the hills of Israel be a desert without a passenger. Then they will learn that I am the Even- uvmc when I make the country desolate and waste, because of all the depravities they practise! ‘ And you, Son of Adam,-·——the chil-

dren of your People make a talk about you in the shadow of the walls, and at the doors of their houses, and they say one to another, each to his friend, ‘ Let us go now and listen what message has come from the EVER-L1v1NG.’ But they only come to you as a gathering crowd, and sit before you as a mob, and listen to your speech ; but they do not practise it,——for they flatter with their mouth, but their hearts follow villanyl And you are like a love—song to them, beautiful in sound, and cheering in tone, so they listen to your words; but they do not practise them ;-·-—but 33 when that comes which will come, they will acknowledge that a Prophet has come amongst them l 2\ Warning in 3sracl’s Slizpbcrbs. The command ofthe EvEu—1.1v1NG came again to me to say: ‘S0n of Adam! Preach against

the shepherds of Israel,and tell those shepherds; ‘Thus says the MIGHTY LORD. Woe to the shepherds who shepherd themselves l--should not shepherds shepherd their flock? Who consume the milk, and wear the wool, and kill the fattened ;———but shepherd not the Bock! You have not strength- ened the feeble ;—··—and have not cured the wounded ; and have not bandaged the broken, nor turned back the straying;~—nor sought the lost; but brutally kicked and driven them off! So they were scattered without a shepherd, and devoured by all the wild beasts of the field, and chased! My sheep wandered on all the hills, and on all the high mountains, and over all the surface of the country the flock was scattered, and you never enquired or sought for them. Therefore, Shepherds! listen to the message from the Even-mvmo! ‘ By My life} says the M1om·v Loan, ‘it is because you let My flock be devoured by all the wild beasts of the held, without a shepherd ;-·—and the shepherds never care about My flock ;·~—but the shepherds mind them— selves, and do not mind the sheep, therefore, Shepherds! listen to the message from the EvER~L1v1NG. Thus says the MtGHTY LORD, ‘ I am against you, Shepherds, and will de- .mand My sheep from your hands, and will dismiss you from your shep- herdship ~ of the flock,-——and you, Shepherds! shall shepherd yourselves no more ;~·but I will rescue My sheep from you, and you shall not devour them. thus says the Mxorrrv

I will attend My sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his flock during the time h-e is amongst the scattering sheep; so I will look after My sheep, and

rescue them from all the hollows where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and darkness, and will 34 IO II I2