Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Ezekiel, chapters 21 and 34. Chapter 21 And the
word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man,
set your face toward Jerusalem, preach against
the holy places, and prophesy against the land
of Israel, and say to the land of Israel, Thus
says the Lord, Behold, I am against you, and
I will draw my sword out of its sheath and cut
off both righteous and wicked from you. Because
I will cut off both righteous and wicked from
you, therefore my sword shall go out of its sheath
against all flesh from south to north. That all
flesh may know that I, the Lord, have drawn my
sword out of its sheath, it shall not return
any more. Sigh therefore, son of man. with a
breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before
their eyes. And it shall be, when they say to
you, Why are you sighing? that you shall answer,
Because of the news. When it comes, every heart
will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit
will faint, and all knees will be weak as water.
Behold, it is coming, and shall be brought to
pass, says the Lord God. Again the word of the
Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy
and say. Thus says the Lord, Say, a sword a sword
is sharpened and also polished sharpened to make
a dreadful slaughter polished to flash like lightning
should we then make mirth it despises the sceptre
of my son as it does all wood and he has given
it to be polished that it may be handled this
sword is sharpened and it is polished to be given
into the hand of the slayer cry and wail son
of man for it will be against my people against
all the princes of israel Because it is a testing,
and what if the sword despises even a scepter?
The scepter shall be no more, says the Lord God.
You therefore, son of man, prophesy, and strike
your hands together. The third time let the sword
do double damage. It is the sword that slays,
the sword that slays the great men. that enters
their private chambers. I have set the point
of the sword against all their gates, that the
heart may melt and many may stumble. Ah, it is
made bright, it is grasped for slaughter. Swords
at the ready, thrust right. Set your blade, thrust
left, wherever your edge is ordered. I also will
beat my fists together, and I will cause my fury
to rest. I, the Lord, have spoken. The word of
the Lord came to me again, saying, And son of
man, appoint for yourself two ways for the sword
of the king of Babylon to go. Both of them shall
go from the same land. Make a sign, put it at
the head of the road to the city. Appoint a road
for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites,
and to Judah into fortified Jerusalem. For the
king of Babylon stands at the parting of the
road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination.
He shakes the arrows, he consults the images,
he looks at the liver. In his right hand is the
divination for Jerusalem, to set up battering
rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice
with shouting, to set battering rams against
the gates, to heap up a siege mound and to build
a wall. And it will be to them like a false divination
in the eyes of those who have sworn oaths with
them. but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance
that they may be taken. Therefore, thus says
the Lord God, because you have made your iniquity
to be remembered, in that your transgressions
are uncovered, so that in all your doings your
sins appear, because you have come to remembrance,
you shall be taken in hand. Now to you, O profane,
wicked prince of Israel, whose day has come,
whose iniquity shall end, thus says the Lord
God. Remove the turban and take off the crown.
Nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble
and humble the exalted. Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown. It shall be no longer
until he comes whose right it is, and I will
give it to him. And you, son of man, prophesy
and say, Thus says the Lord God concerning the
Ammonites and concerning their reproach, and
say, A sword, a sword, is drawn, polished for
slaughter, for consuming, for flashing, while
they see false visions for you. while they divine
a lie to you, to bring you on the necks of the
wicked, the slain, whose day has come, whose
iniquity shall end. Return it to its sheath,
I will judge you, in the place where you were
created, in the land of your nativity. I will
pour out my indignation on you, I will blow against
you with the fire of my wrath, and deliver you
into the hands of brutal men who are skillful
to destroy. You shall be fuel for the fire. Your
blood shall be in the midst of the land. You
shall not be remembered, for I the Lord have
spoken. You slaughter the fatlings, but you do
not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened,
nor have you healed those who were sick, nor
bound up the broken, nor brought back what was
driven away, nor sought what was lost. But with
force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they
were scattered because there was no shepherd,
and they became food for all the beasts of the
field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered
through all the mountains and on every high hill.
Yes, my flock was scattered over the whole face
of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching
for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the
word of the Lord. As I live, says the Lord God,
surely because my flock became a prey, and my
flock became food for every beast of the field,
because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherds
search for my flock. But the shepherds fed themselves
and did not feed my flock. Therefore, O shepherds,
hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord
God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and
I will require my flock at their hand. I will
cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the
shepherds shall feed themselves no more. For
I will deliver my flock from their mouths, that
they may no longer be food for them. For thus
says the Lord God, in the valleys and in all
the inhabited places of the country. I will feed
them in good pasture, and their fold shall be
on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall
lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture
on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock,
and I will make them lie down, says the Lord
God. I will seek what was lost and bring back
what was driven away, bind up the broken and
strengthen what was sick. but I will destroy
the fat and the strong and feed them in judgment.
And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord
God, Behold, I shall judge between sheep and
sheep, between rams and goats. Is it too little
for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that
you must tread down with your feet the residue
of your pasture, and to have drunk of the clear
waters, that you must foul the residue with your
feet? And as for my flock, they eat what you
have trampled with your feet, and they drink
what you have fouled with your feet. Therefore
thus says the Lord God to them, Behold, I myself
will judge between the fat and the lean sheep,
because you have pushed with side and shoulder,
butted all the weak ones with your horns, and
scattered them abroad. Therefore I will save
my flock, and they shall no longer be a prey,
and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will
establish one shepherd over them, and he shall
feed them, my servant David. He shall feed them
and be their shepherd, and I the Lord will be
their God, and my servant David a prince among
them. I the Lord have spoken. I will make a covenant
of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to
cease from the land, and they will dwell safely
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. I will
make them and the places all around my hill a
blessing. and I will cause showers to come down
in their season. There shall be showers of blessing.
Then the trees of the field shall yield their
fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.
They shall be safe in their land, and they shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the
bands of their yoke and delivered them from the
hand of those who enslaved them. And they shall
no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall
beasts of the land devour them, but they shall
dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.
I will raise up for them a garden of renown,
and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger
in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles
any more. Thus they shall know that I, the Lord
their God, am with them, and they, the house
of Israel, are my people, says the Lord God.
You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You
are men and I am your God, says the Lord God.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as
I did. And I look forward to seeing you again
tomorrow to continue on our journey. God bless
you and have a great day.