Spirit Nation

The Holy Bible - God's Word for All Generations

Home > Ezekiel > Chapter 34

Ezekiel Chapter 34

Other Translations

asv (asv) - eBible.org engASV USFM

1 And I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments upon No.
2 And I will pour my wrath upon Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.
3 And I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis
4 shall have adversaries in the day-time.
5 The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and these
6 cities shall go into captivity.
7 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity.
8 Thus will I execute judgments upon Egypt; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
9 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first
10 month, in the seventh
11 day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it hath not been bound up, to apply
13 healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword.
14 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong
15 arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand.
16 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.
17 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man.
18 And I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.
19 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
20 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third
21 month, in the first
22 day of the month, that the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
23 Son of man, say unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
24 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs.
25 The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: the rivers thereof ran round about its plantation; and it sent out its channels unto all the trees of the field.
26 Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot
27 them forth.
28 All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young; and under its shadow dwelt all great nations.
29 Thus was it fair in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters.
30 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty.
31 I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.

darby (darby) - eBible.org Darby 1890 plaintext

1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock.
4 The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have ye healed the sick, and ye have not bound up [what was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought for that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigour have ye ruled over them.
5 And they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and my sheep have been scattered upon all the face of the earth, and there was none that searched, or that sought for them.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
8 [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily because my sheep have been a prey, and my sheep have been meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds searched not for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock,
9 — therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah.
10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock: that the shepherds may feed themselves no more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.
11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I, [even] I, will both search for my sheep, and tend them.
12 As a shepherd tendeth his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the water-courses, and in all the habitable places of the country.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15 I will myself feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah.
16 I will seek the lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong: I will feed them with judgment.
17 And as for you, my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he-goats.
18 Is it too small a thing unto you to have eaten up the good pastures, but ye must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; and to have drunk of the settled waters, but ye must foul the rest with your feet?
19 And my sheep have to eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and to drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, [it is] I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the weak ones with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad,
22 — I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 And I 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.
24 And I Jehovah will be theirGod, and my servant David a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken [it].
25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell in safety in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season: there shall be showers of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase; and they shall be in safety in their land, and shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that kept them in servitude.
28 And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beast of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell in safety, and none shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the ignominy of the nations any more.
30 And they shall know that I Jehovah theirGod [am] with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.
31 And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men: I [am] yourGod, saith the Lord Jehovah.

lxxbrent (lxxbrent) - Septuagint (Brenton 1851) eBible USFM

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord God; O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? do not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 Behold, ye feed on the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and slay the fat: but ye feed not my sheep.
4 The weak one ye have not strengthened, and the sick ye have not cherished, and the bruised ye have not bound up, and the stray one ye have not turned back, and the lost ye have not sought; and the strong ye have wearied with labour.
5 And my sheep were scattered, because there were no shepherds: and they became meat to all the wild beasts of the field.
6 And my sheep were scattered on every mountain, and on every high hill: yea, they were scattered on the face of the earth, and there was none to seek them out, nor to bring them back.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.
8 [As] I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became meat to all the wild beasts of the field, because there were no shepherds, and the shepherds sought not out my sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves, but fed not my sheep.
9 For this cause, O shepherds,
10 thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hands, and will turn them back that they shall not feed my sheep, and the shepherds shall no longer feed them; and I will deliver my sheep out of their mouth, and they shall no longer be meat for them.
11 For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them.
12 As the shepherd seeks his flock, in the day when there is darkness and cloud, in the midst of the sheep that are separated: so will I seek out my sheep, and will bring them back from every place where they were scattered in the day of cloud and darkness.
13 And I will bring them out from the Gentiles, and will gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land, and will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and in the valleys, and in every inhabited place of the land.
14 I will feed them in a good pasture, on a high mountain of Israel: and their folds shall be there, and they shall lie down, and there shall they rest in perfect prosperity, and they shall feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord: thus saith the Lord God.
16 I will seek that which is lost, and I will recover the stray one, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen the fainting, and will guard the strong, and will feed them with judgment.
17 And [as for] you, ye sheep, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will distinguish between sheep and sheep, [between] rams and he-goats.
18 And [is it] not enough for you that ye fed on the good pasture, that ye trampled with your feet the remnant of your pasture? and [that] ye drank the standing water, [that] ye disturbed the residue with your feet?
19 So my sheep fed on that which ye had trampled with your feet; and they drank the water that had been disturbed by your feet.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.
21 Ye did thrust with your sides and shoulders, and pushed with your horns, and ye cruelly treated all the sick.
22 Therefore I will save my sheep, and they shall not be any more for a prey; and will judge between ram and ram.
23 And I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall tend them, [even] my servant David, and he shall be their shepherd;
24 and I the Lord will be to them a God, and David a prince in the midst of them; I the Lord have spoken it.
25 And I will make with David a covenant of peace, and I will utterly destroy evil beasts from off the land; and they shall dwell in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests.
26 And I will settle them round about my mountain; and I will give you the rain, the rain of blessing.
27 And the trees that are in the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her strength, and they shall dwell in the confidence of peace on their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken their yoke; and I will deliver them out of the hand of those that enslaved them.
28 And they shall no more be a spoil to the nations, and the wild beasts of the land shall no more at all devour them; and they shall dwell safely, and there shall be none to make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant of peace, and they shall no more perish with hunger upon the land, and they shall no more bear the reproach of the nations.
30 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they my people. O house of Israel, saith the Lord God,
31 ye are my sheep, even the sheep of my flock, and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.

vul1914 (vul1914) - Vulgate 1914 UTF-8 (sacredbible.org)

1 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:
2 Fili hominis propheta de pastoribus Israel: propheta, et dices pastoribus: Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Væ pastoribus Israel, qui pascebant semetipsos: nonne greges a pastoribus pascuntur?
3 Lac comedebatis, et lanis operiebamini, et quod crassum erat occidebatis: gregem autem meum non pascebatis.
4 Quod infirmum fuit non consolidastis, et quod ægrotum non sanastis, quod confractum est non alligastis, et quod abiectum est non reduxistis, et quod perierat non quæsistis: sed cum austeritate imperabatis eis, et cum potentia.
5 Et dispersæ sunt oves meæ, eo quod non esset pastor: et factæ sunt in devorationem omnium bestiarum agri, et dispersæ sunt.
6 Erraverunt greges mei in cunctis montibus, et in universo colle excelso: et super omnem faciem terræ dispersi sunt greges mei, et non erat qui requireret, non erat, inquam, qui requireret.
7 Propterea pastores audite verbum Domini:
8 Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus: quia pro eo quod facti sunt greges mei in rapinam, et oves meæ in devorationem omnium bestiarum agri, eo quod non esset pastor (neque enim quæsierunt pastores mei gregem meum:) sed pascebant pastores semetipsos, et greges meos non pascebant:
9 propterea pastores audite verbum Domini:
10 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ipse super pastores requiram gregem meum de manu eorum, et cessare faciam eos ut ultra non pascant gregem, nec pascant amplius pastores semetipsos: et liberabo gregem meum de ore eorum: et non erit ultra eis in escam.
11 Quia hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego ipse requiram oves meas, et visitabo eas.
12 Sicut visitat pastor gregem suum in die, quando fuerit in medio ovium suarum dissipatarum: sic visitabo oves meas, et liberabo eas de omnibus locis, in quibus dispersæ fuerant in die nubis, et caliginis.
13 Et educam eas de populis, et congregabo eas de terris, et inducam eas in terram suam: et pascam eas in montibus Israel, in rivis, et in cunctis sedibus terræ.
14 In pascuis uberrimis pascam eas, et in montibus excelsis Israel erunt pascua earum: ibi requiescent in herbis virentibus, et in pascuis pinguibus pascentur super montes Israel.
15 Ego pascam oves meas: et ego eas accubare faciam, dicit Dominus Deus.
16 Quod perierat requiram, et quod abiectum erat reducam, et quod confractum fuerat alligabo, et quod infirmum fuerat consolidabo, et quod pingue et forte custodiam: et pascam illas in iudicio.
17 Vos autem greges mei, hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Ecce ego iudico inter pecus et pecus, arietum, et hircorum.
18 Nonne satis vobis erat pascua bona depasci? insuper et reliquias pascuarum vestrarum conculcastis pedibus vestris: et cum purissimam aquam biberetis, reliquam pedibus vestris turbabatis.
19 Et oves meæ his, quæ conculcata pedibus vestris fuerant, pascebantur: et quæ pedes vestri turbaverant, hæc bibebant.
20 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus ad vos: Ecce ego ipse iudico inter pecus pingue, et macilentum:
21 pro eo quod lateribus, et humeris impingebatis, et cornibus vestris ventilabatis omnia infirma pecora, donec dispergerentur foras:
22 salvabo gregem meum, et non erit ultra in rapinam, et iudicabo inter pecus et pecus.
23 ET SUSCITABO SUPER EAS PASTOREM UNUM, qui pascat eas, servum meum David: ipse pascet eas, et ipse erit eis in pastorem.
24 Ego autem Dominus ero eis in Deum: et servus meus David princeps in medio eorum: ego Dominus locutus sum.
25 Et faciam cum eis pactum pacis, et cessare faciam bestias pessimas de terra: et qui habitant in deserto, securi dormient in saltibus.
26 Et ponam eos in circuitu collis mei benedictionem: et deducam imbrem in tempore suo: pluviæ benedictionis erunt.
27 Et dabit lignum agri fructum suum, et terra dabit germen suum, et erunt in terra sua absque timore: et scient quia ego Dominus, cum contrivero catenas iugi eorum, et eruero eos de manu imperantium sibi.
28 Et non erunt ultra in rapinam in Gentibus, neque bestiæ terræ devorabunt eos: sed habitabunt confidenter absque ullo terrore.
29 Et suscitabo eis germen nominatum: et non erunt ultra imminuti fame in terra, neque portabunt ultra opprobrium Gentium.
30 Et scient quia ego Dominus Deus eorum cum eis, et ipsi populus meus domus Israel: ait Dominus Deus.
31 Vos autem greges mei, greges pascuæ meæ homines estis: et ego Dominus Deus vester, dicit Dominus Deus.

web (web) - WorldEnglish.Bible — CC0 modern update of ASV

1 The LORD’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord GOD says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought.”
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD’s word:
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, and my shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep,
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the LORD’s word!”
10 The Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
11 “‘For the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture, and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I 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 I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.”’
17 “As for you, O my flock, the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
18 Does 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 must you foul the residue with your feet?
19 As 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 the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad,
22 therefore I will save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
24 I, 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. They will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will 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.
28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.
30 They will 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.”

ylt (ylt) - Bible.com YLT98 plain UTF-8

1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,
2 `Son of man, prophesy concerning shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and thou hast said unto them: To the shepherds, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Woe <FI>to<Fi> the shepherds of Israel, Who have been feeding themselves! The flock do not the shepherds feed?
3 The fat ye do eat, and the wool ye put on, The fed one ye slaughter, the flock ye feed not.
4 The weak ye have not strengthened, And the sick one ye have not healed, And the broken ye have not bound up, And the driven away have not brought back, And the lost ye have not sought, And with might ye have ruled them and with rigour.
5 And they are scattered from want of a shepherd, And are for food to every beast of the field, Yea, they are scattered.
6 Go astray do My flock on all the mountains, And on every high hill, And on all the face of the land have My flock been scattered, And there is none inquiring, and none seeking.
7 Therefore, shepherds, hear a word of Jehovah:
8 I live--an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, If not, because of My flock being for a prey, Yea, My flock is for food to every beast of the field, Because there is no shepherd, And My shepherds have not sought My flock, And the shepherds do feed themselves, And My flock they have not fed.
9 Therefore, O shepherds, hear a word of Jehovah:
10 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I <FI>am<Fi> against the shepherds, And have required My flock from their hand, And caused them to cease from feeding the flock, And no more do the shepherds feed themselves, And I have delivered My flock from their mouth, And they are not to them for food.
11 For thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I--even I, have required My flock, And I have sought it out.
12 As a shepherd's searching of his drove, In the day of his being in the midst of his scattered flock, so I do seek My flock, And have delivered them out of all places, Whither they have been scattered, In a day of cloud and thick darkness.
13 And brought them out from the peoples, And have gathered them from the lands, And brought them unto their own ground, And have fed them on mountains of Israel, By streams, and by all dwellings of the land.
14 With good pasture I do feed them, And on mountains of the high place of Israel is their habitation, There do they lie down in a good habitation, And fat pastures they enjoy on mountains of Israel.
15 I feed My flock, and cause them to lie down, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
16 The lost I seek, and the driven away bring back, And the broken I bind up, and the sick I strengthen, And the fat and the strong I destroy, I feed it with judgment.
17 And you, My flock, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I am judging between sheep and sheep, Between rams and he-goats.
18 Is it a little thing for you--the good pasture ye enjoy, And the remnant of your pasture ye tread down with your feet, And a depth of waters ye do drink, And the remainder with your feet ye trample,
19 And My flock the trodden thing of your feet consumeth, And the trampled thing of your feet drinketh?
20 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah to them: Lo, I--even I, have judged between fat sheep and lean sheep.
21 Because with side and with shoulder ye thrust away, And with your horns push all the diseased, Till ye have scattered them to the out-place,
22 And I have given safety to My flock, And they are not any more for prey, And I have judged between sheep and sheep.
23 And have raised up over them one shepherd, And he hath fed them--my servant David, He doth feed them, and he is their shepherd,
24 And I, Jehovah, I am their God, And My servant David prince in their midst, I, Jehovah, have spoken.
25 And I have made for them a covenant of peace, And caused evil beasts to cease out of the land, And they have dwelt in a wilderness confidently, And they have slept in forests.
26 And I have given them, and the suburbs of my hill, a blessing, And caused the shower to come down in its season, Showers of blessing they are.
27 And given hath the tree of the field its fruit, And the land doth give her increase, And they have been on their land confident, And they have known that I <FI>am<Fi> Jehovah, In My breaking the bands of their yoke, And I have delivered them from the hand of those laying service on them.
28 And they are no more a prey to nations, And the beast of the earth devoureth them not, And they have dwelt confidently, And there is none troubling.
29 And I have raised for them a plant for renown, And they are no more consumed by hunger in the land, And they bear no more the shame of the nations.
30 And they have known that I, Jehovah, their God, <FI>am<Fi> with them, And they--the house of Israel--My people, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
31 And ye, My flock, the flock of My pasture, Men ye <FI>are<Fi> --I <FI>am<Fi> your God, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'

Explanations by Age Level

Explain Like I'm 5

A long, long time ago, there was nothing at all - no earth, no sky, no animals, no people. It was all dark and empty. But God was there! God is so powerful that He can make anything just by speaking. So God said "Let there be light!" and BOOM! There was light everywhere! God saw that the light was beautiful and good. He called the light "day" and the darkness "night." This was the very first day when God started making our wonderful world!

Explain Like I'm 10

Before anything existed - no planets, stars, or life - God decided to create the universe. The earth started out as a dark, empty place covered with water. But God's Spirit was there, ready to bring order and beauty to everything. When God spoke and said "Let there be light," light immediately appeared because God's words have incredible power. God looked at the light and was pleased with what He had made. He organized time by separating light (day) from darkness (night), creating the first 24-hour period. This shows us that God is organized and purposeful in everything He does.

Explain Like I'm 15

Genesis 1:1-5 establishes fundamental theological truths about God and creation. The Hebrew word "bara" (created) indicates creation from nothing (ex nihilo), demonstrating God's absolute sovereignty and power. The phrase "without form and void" (tohu wa-bohu) describes a state of chaos that God transforms into order. The Spirit of God "hovering" or "brooding" over the waters suggests active, caring involvement in creation. The creation of light before the sun (created on day 4) indicates that God Himself is the ultimate source of light and energy. The establishment of day and night creates the framework of time, showing that God operates within orderly patterns while transcending them. This passage refutes both atheistic materialism and pantheism, establishing that God is both transcendent (separate from creation) and immanent (actively involved in it).