Study Desk

For the Lord God says, "I Myself will look for My sheep and find them.

As a shepherd looks for his sheep when they are not together, so I will look for My sheep. And I will save them from all the places where they were spread out on a day of clouds and darkness.

"I will look for the lost, bring back those that have gone away, help those who have been hurt, and give strength to the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with punishment.

"As for you, My flock, the Lord God says, ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

Is it not enough for you to eat in the good field? Must you crush under foot the rest of your fields? Is it not enough for you to drink of the clear waters? Must your feet fill the rest with mud?

I will give them a land well known for its fields of food. They will never suffer with hunger again, and will no longer be put to shame by the nations.

So as I live," says the Lord God, "I will punish you for your anger and the jealousy you showed because of your hate toward them. And I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the bad things you have said against the mountains of Israel. You have said, ‘They are destroyed. They are given to us for food.'

So tell the mountains of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, "They have made you a waste land, and destroyed you from every side. You were taken by the rest of the nations for their own. And the people have been saying bad things about you."'"

The Lord God says, "I speak in the fire of My jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom. They have taken My land for themselves with hearts full of joy and hate, that they might rob its good things."

But you, O mountains of Israel, will put out your branches and give your fruit for My people Israel. For they will come home soon.

See, I care for you and will show you favor. You will be plowed and planted.

I sent them among the different nations and spread them out among the lands. I judged them for their ways and their works.

For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land.

‘The Lord God says, "I will also let the people of Israel ask Me to do this for them: I will give them many people, like the sheep of a flock.

The empty cities will be filled with flocks of people, like the flock kept for burnt gifts, like the flock at Jerusalem during her special suppers. Then they will know that I am the Lord."'"

"Son of man, take one stick of wood and write on it, ‘For Judah and for the people of Israel with him.' Then take another stick of wood and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the people of Israel with him.'

I will turn you around, put hooks into your mouth, and bring you out with your whole army. Your horses and horsemen will be dressed for battle. The army will be very large, with all the men holding battle-coverings and waving swords.

After many days you will be called. In future years you will come into the land where people have been gathered from many nations and have lived without fear of war. You will come to the mountains of Israel, which had been a waste land for a long time. But its people were brought out from the nations, and all of them are living without fear.

‘The Lord God says, "Are you the one I spoke of in the past, through My servants of Israel who spoke in My name? At that time they said for many years that I would bring you against them.