1
The word of the Lord came to me:
2 O mortal, speak to your fellow countrymen and say to them: When I bring the
sword against a country, the citizens of that country take one of their number
and appoint him their watchman. 3 Suppose he sees the sword advancing against
the country, and he blows the horn and warns the people. 4 If anybody hears the
sound of the horn but ignores the warning, and the sword comes and dispatches
him, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 Since he heard the sound of the horn
but ignored the warning, his bloodguilt shall be upon himself; had he taken the
warning, he would have saved his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword
advancing and does not blow the horn, so that the people are not warned, and
the sword comes and destroys one of them, that person was destroyed for his own
sins; however, I will demand a reckoning for his blood from the watchman.
7
Now, O mortal, I have appointed you a watchman for the House of Israel; and
whenever you hear a message from My mouth, you must transmit My warning to
them. 8 When I say to the wicked, “Wicked man, you shall die,” but you have not
spoken to warn the wicked man against his way, he, that wicked man, shall die
for his sins, but I will demand a reckoning for his blood from you. 9 But if
you have warned the wicked man to turn back from his way, and he has not turned
from his way, he shall die for his own sins, but you will have saved your life.
10
Now, O mortal, say to the House of Israel: This is what you have been saying:
“Our transgressions and our sins weigh heavily upon us; we are sick at heart
about them. How can we survive?” 11 Say to them: As I live—declares the Lord God—it is not My desire that the wicked
shall die, but that the wicked turn from his [evil] ways and live. Turn back,
turn back from your evil ways, that you may not die, O House of Israel!
12
Now, O mortal, say to your fellow countrymen: The righteousness of the
righteous shall not save him when he transgresses, nor shall the wickedness of
the wicked cause him to stumble when he turns back from his wickedness. The
righteous shall not survive through his righteousness when he sins. 13 When I
say of the righteous “He shall surely live,” and, relying on his righteousness,
he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but for
the iniquity that he has committed he shall die. 14 So, too, when I say to the
wicked, “You shall die,” and he turns back from his sinfulness and does what is
just and right—15 if the wicked man restores a pledge, makes good what he has
taken by robbery, follows the laws of life, and does not commit iniquity—he
shall live, he shall not die. 16 None of the sins that he committed shall be
remembered against him; since he does what is just and right, he shall live.
17
Your fellow countrymen say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” But it is their
way that is unfair! 18 When a righteous man turns away from his righteous deeds
and commits iniquity, he shall die for it. 19 And when a wicked man turns back
from his wickedness and does what is just and right, it is he who shall live by
virtue of these things. 20 And will you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair”? I
will judge each one of you according to his ways, O House of Israel!
21
In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a
fugitive came to me from Jerusalem and reported, “The city has fallen.” 22 Now
the hand of the Lord had come
upon me the evening before the fugitive arrived, and He opened my mouth before
he came to me in the morning; thus my mouth was opened and I was no longer
speechless.
23
The word of the Lord came to me:
24 O mortal, those who live in these ruins in the land of Israel argue,
“Abraham was but one man, yet he was granted possession of the land. We are
many; surely, the land has been given as a possession to us.” 25 Therefore say
to them: Thus said the Lord God:
You eat with the blood, you raise your eyes to your fetishes, and you shed
blood—yet you expect to possess the land! 26 You have relied on your sword, you
have committed abominations, you have all defiled other men’s wives—yet you
expect to possess the land!
27
Thus shall you speak to them: Thus said the Lord God: As I live, those who are in the ruins shall fall by the
sword, and those who are in the open I have allotted as food to the beasts, and
those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die by pestilence. 28 I will
make the land a desolate waste, and her proud glory shall cease; and the
mountains of Israel shall be desolate, with none passing through. 29 And they
shall know that I am the Lord,
when I make the land a desolate waste on account of all the abominations which
they have committed.
30
Note well, O mortal: your fellow countrymen who converse about you by the walls
and in the doorways of their houses and say to each other and propose to one
another, “Come and hear what word has issued from the Lord.” 31 They will come to you in crowds and sit before you
in throngs and will hear your words, but they will not obey them. For they produce
nothing but lust with their mouths; and their hearts pursue nothing but gain.
32 To them you are just a singer of bawdy songs, who has a sweet voice and
plays skillfully; they hear your words, but will not obey them. 33 But when it
comes—and come it will—they shall know that a prophet has been among them. [1]
17
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. 18
And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day
that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
19 Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and
temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews: 20 And
how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed
you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21 Testifying both
to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto
Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 Save that the
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide
me. 24 But none of these things move
me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course
with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify
the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among
whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 26
Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood
of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the
counsel of God. 28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of
God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after
my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away
disciples after them. 31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of
three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. 32 And
now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is
able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are
sanctified. 33 I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. 34 Yea, ye
yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to
them that were with me. 35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring
ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how
he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
36
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.
I
charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the
word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears
from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of
thy ministry.
The
elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof,
not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready
mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God’s
heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away.
17
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch
for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy,
and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. [2]