Today's Reading

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."'"

¹"You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.

²Thus says the Lord God: "Because the enemy has said against you, 'Aha!' and, 'The ancient high places are ours in possession'"';

³therefore prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people";

⁴therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: "Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around;

⁵therefore thus says the Lord God: 'Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey.'"'

⁶"Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations:

⁷therefore thus says the Lord God: 'I have sworn, saying, "Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame."

⁸"'"'But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.

⁹For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown;

¹⁰and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built;

¹¹and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹²Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children.'"

¹³"'Thus says the Lord God: "Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation';

¹⁴therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more," says the Lord God;

¹⁵"neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more," says the Lord God.'"

¹⁶Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

¹⁷"Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

¹⁸Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols;

¹⁹and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

²⁰When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, 'These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land.'

²¹But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went.

²²"Therefore tell the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God: "I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went.

²³I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord," says the Lord God, "when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

²⁴For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.

²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

²⁶I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

²⁷I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.

²⁸You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.

³⁰I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

³¹Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

³²Nor for your sake do I this," says the Lord God, "be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel."'

³³"Thus says the Lord God: 'In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built.

³⁴The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.

³⁵They shall say, "This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited."

³⁶Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, the Lord, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.'"

³⁷"Thus says the Lord God: 'For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

³⁸As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the Lord.'"

¹My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality.

²For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in;

³and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, "Sit here in a good place;" but you tell the poor man, "Stand there," or "Sit by my footstool;"

⁴haven't you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵Listen, my beloved brothers. Did not God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?

⁶But you have dishonored the poor man. Do not the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts?

⁷Do not they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called?

⁸However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well.

⁹But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors.

¹⁰For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

¹¹For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not commit murder." Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

¹²So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom.

¹³For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?

¹⁵And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,

¹⁶and one of you tells them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled;" and yet you did not give them the things the body needs, what good is it?

¹⁷Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.

¹⁸Yes, a man will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith.

¹⁹You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.

²⁰But do you want to know, foolish man, that faith apart from works is dead?

²¹Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?

²²You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected;

²³and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness;" and he was called the friend of God.

²⁴You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.

²⁵In like manner was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?

²⁶For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.

¹My son, if you will receive my words, and store up my commandments within you;

²So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

³Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding;

⁴If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures:

⁵then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

⁶For the Lord gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

⁷He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

⁸that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his holy ones.

⁹Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.

¹⁰For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

¹¹Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you,

¹²to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

¹³who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

¹⁴who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

¹⁵who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths:

¹⁶To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

¹⁷who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

¹⁸for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

¹⁹None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

²⁰that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

²¹For the upright will dwell in the land. The perfect will remain in it.

²²But the wicked will be cut off from the land. The treacherous will be rooted out of it.