Day 328 of 730

¹The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?

³You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.

⁴You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.

⁵They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.

⁶My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought."'

⁷"'"Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

⁸'As I live,' says the Lord God, 'surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep';

⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:

¹⁰Thus says the Lord God: 'Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.'"

¹¹"'For thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

¹²As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

¹³I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

¹⁴I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down," says the Lord God.

¹⁶"I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice."

¹⁷"'As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.

¹⁸Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?

¹⁹As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet."

²⁰"'Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: "Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

²¹Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;

²²therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

²³I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

²⁴I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them;" I, the Lord, have spoken it.

²⁵"'I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

²⁶I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.

²⁷The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.

²⁸They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.

²⁹I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.

³⁰They shall know that I, the Lord, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people," says the Lord God.

³¹"You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God," says the Lord God.'"

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

²"Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

³and tell it, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.

⁴I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

⁵"'"Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;

⁶therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you.

⁷Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.

⁸I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword.

⁹I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰"'"Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it'; whereas the Lord was there:

¹¹therefore, as I live," says the Lord God, "I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you.

¹²You shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour.

¹³You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it."

¹⁴Thus says the Lord God: "When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

¹⁵As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am the Lord."'"

¹To you, Lord, I call. My rock, do not be deaf to me; lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.

²Hear the voice of my petitions, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place.

³Do not draw me away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.

⁴Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.

⁵Because they do not regard the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he will break them down and not build them up.

⁶Blessed be the Lord, because he has heard the voice of my petitions.

⁷The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.

⁸The Lord is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.

⁹Save your people, and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also, and bear them up forever.

¹An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

²A fool has no delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own opinion.

³When wickedness comes, contempt also comes, and with shame comes disgrace.

⁴The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters. The fountain of wisdom is like a flowing brook.

⁵To be partial to the faces of the wicked is not good, nor to deprive the innocent of justice.

⁶A fool's lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.

⁷A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

⁸The words of a gossip are like dainty morsels: they go down into a person's innermost parts.

⁹One who is slack in his work is brother to him who is a master of destruction.

¹⁰The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.

¹¹The rich man's wealth is his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination.

¹²Before destruction the heart of man is proud, but before honor is humility.

¹³He who gives answer before he hears, that is folly and shame to him.

¹⁴A man's spirit will sustain him in sickness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?

¹⁵The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

¹⁶A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.

¹⁷He who pleads his cause first seems right; until another comes and questions him.

¹⁸The lot settles disputes, and keeps strong ones apart.

¹⁹A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a castle.

²⁰A man's stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.

²²Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord.

²³The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.

²⁴A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.