Ezekiel 33:10-11 (The Message)
“Son of man, speak to Israel.
Tell them, ‘You’ve said, “Our rebellions and sins are weighing
us down. We’re wasting away. How can we go on living?”
“Tell them, ‘As sure as I am the living God,
I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked.
I want the wicked to change their ways and live.
Turn your life around! Reverse your evil ways! Why die, Israel?’
Repent means to go in a new direction.
Ezekiel: 33:1-6 (The Message)
God’s Message came to me:
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel.
Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, ‘God, the Master, says:
Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths!
Aren’t shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk,
you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs,
but you don’t feed the sheep. You don’t build up the weak ones,
don’t heal the sick, don’t doctor the injured, don’t go after the strays,
don’t look for the lost. You bully and badger them.
And now they’re scattered every which way because there was
no shepherd — scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes.
Scattered — my sheep! — exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills.
My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one looking out for them!
Ezekiel 34:10-16 (The Message)
‘“God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd.
I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when
they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all
the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. I’ll bring them back from
foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back
to their home country. I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams,
among their own people. I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam
them mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on
the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be shepherd of my sheep.
I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost,
I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones
and oversee the strong ones so they are not exploited.
John 10: 1-18