Beloved, I entreat you as strangers and sojourners to abstain from  ¹fleshly lusts, which war against the  ¹soul,

Having your  ¹manner of life  ²excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the matter concerning which they speak against you as evildoers they may, by your good works, as they see them with their own eyes, glorify God in the day of His  ³visitation.

 ¹Be subject to every human  ²institution  ³for the Lord's sake, whether to a king as being supreme,

Or to governors as being sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and praise of those who do good.

For so is the will of God, that by doing good you would muzzle the ignorance of  ¹foolish men;

As free, and yet not having freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.

Honor all men. Love the  ¹brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

Household servants, be subject in all  ¹fear to your masters, not only to the good and forbearing but also to the crooked.

For this is  ¹grace, if anyone,  ²because of a consciousness of God, bears sorrows by suffering  ³unjustly.

For what  ¹glory is it if, while sinning and being buffeted, you endure? But if, while doing good and suffering, you endure, this is grace with God.

For to  ¹this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a  ²model so that you may follow in His steps;

Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth;

Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing  ¹all to Him who  ²judges righteously;

Who Himself  ¹bore up our sins in His body on the  ²tree, in order that we,  ³having died to sins, might  ⁴live  ⁵to righteousness; by whose  ⁶bruise you were  ⁷healed.

For you were like sheep being led astray, but you have now  ¹returned to the  ²Shepherd and Overseer of your  ³souls.

 ¹Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them, Whenever I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land take a man from their midst and set him up as their watchman,

And when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people;

Then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and ignores the warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head.

He heard the sound of the trumpet and ignored the warning; his own blood will be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul.

But if the watchman sees the sword come and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned and the sword comes and takes someone away from them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.

It is you, O son of man, whom I have appointed as a  ¹watchman to the house of Israel; therefore when you hear the word from My mouth, give them warning from Me.

When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, you will surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Yet if you warn the wicked man of his way to turn from it and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, and you have  ¹delivered your soul.

And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, This is what you speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and because of them we are wasting away. How then can we live?

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn away from his way and live. Turn away, turn away from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?

And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him on the day of his transgression, and the wickedness of the wicked will not stumble him on the day he turns away from his wickedness. The righteous cannot be kept alive just because of his  ¹righteousness on the day he sins.

When I say concerning the righteous man, He will surely live, but if he has confidence in his righteousness and practices iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered. As for his iniquity that he practiced, in it he will die.

Again, when I say to the wicked man, You will surely die, but if he turns away from his sin and practices justice and righteousness —

If the wicked man restores a pledge, makes restitution for what he took in robbery, walks in the statutes of life, practicing no iniquity — he will surely live; he will not die.

None of his sins that he has committed will be remembered against him; he has practiced justice and righteousness; he will surely live.

Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not fair; but as for them, their way is not fair.

When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will even die in it.

And when a wicked man turns from his wickedness and practices justice and righteousness, he will live by them.

Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his ways.

And in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck down.

Now the hand of Jehovah had come upon me in the evening, before the coming of the one who had escaped; and He had opened my mouth before he came to me in the morning. Therefore my mouth was opened, and I was no longer dumb.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, the inhabitants of those ruined places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one person, and he was given the land as an inheritance; but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for an inheritance.

Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, You eat meat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your idols and shed blood. Will you indeed possess the land?

You depend on your sword; you have committed abominations, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife. Will you indeed possess the land?

Thus will you say to them, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, As I live, surely those who are in the ruined places will fall by the sword, and he who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves will die of pestilence.

And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of her strength will cease, and the mountains of Israel will be desolate without anyone passing through.

Then will they know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and a waste, because of all their abominations which they have committed.

And as for you, son of man, the children of your people talk about you by the walls and in the entrances of the houses and speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, Come now, and hear what is the word that comes forth from Jehovah.

And they come to you just as people come, and they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words but do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.

And indeed you are to them like a very lovely song of one with a pleasant voice, who can play an instrument well; for they hear your words but do not do them.

And when this comes about — indeed it comes — then they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep?

You eat the fat, and you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the sheep.

The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick one you have not healed, and the broken one you have not bound up, and the one that was driven away you have not brought back, and the lost one you have not sought; but with strength and rigor you have ruled over them.

And they were scattered without a shepherd, and they became food to all the beasts of the field and were scattered.

My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Indeed My sheep were scattered over all the surface of the earth; not even one searched for or sought after them.

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah.

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely inasmuch as My sheep became prey, and My sheep became food to all the beasts of the field because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My sheep;

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Indeed I am against the shepherds, and I will require My sheep at their hand and stop them from feeding the sheep, and the shepherds will no longer feed themselves; but I will deliver My sheep from their mouth so that they may not be food for them.