AS LONGS THE HIND.

25

cleanse them. So shall they be My people, and I will be their God. And My servant David shall be king over them; and there shall be one shepherd to them all; and in My judgments shall they walk, and observe My statutes, and do them; and they shall dwell in the land that I gave unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, forever; and David My servant their prince forever. And I will make with them a covenant of peace; an everlasting covenant shall be theirs. And I will multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. So My tabernacle shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I, Jehovah, do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is among them for evermore.

AS LONGS THE HIND.

I.

As longs the hind for water-brooks,
So longs my soul for Thee, O God,

My soul is athirst for God, the God of life;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food by day and night,
While men have daily said: Where is thy God?
This I oft remember, pouring out my soul within me :
I used to go among the throng, and lead them to the
house of God,

With noise of shouts and praises—a multitude of
pilgrims.

Refrain.-Why art thou cast down, my soul, and disquieted within me?

2.

Hope thou in God, whom I will ever praise,
My present helper, and my God.

Is my soul cast down, therefore think I on Thee,
From Jordan's land and Hermon, from the hill of
Mizar.

Deep calleth unto deep in the thunder of Thy water-
floods,

All Thy waves and billows have passed over me.
Daily Jehovah showeth His love,

Nightly His song is with me, a prayer to the God of
my life.

Let me say unto God my rock: Why hast Thou for-
gotten me?

Why go I mourning for the violence of the enemy?
With a breaking of my bones my foes reproach me;
With their saying all the day: Where is thy God?

Refrain.-Why art thou cast down, my soul, and disquieted within me?

3.

Hope thou in God, whom I will ever praise,
My present helper, and my God.

Judge me, God, plead Thou my plea against a Godless people;

From men deceitful and unjust O rescue me.

For Thou art God my stronghold, why castest Thou

me off?

And why go I so heavily for the violence of the foe?
Send forth Thy Light and Thy truth; that they

may guide,

And bring me to Thy holy hill, and to Thy dwelling place.

JEWISH LEADERS DENOUNCED.

27

So shall I come to the altar of God, to God my chief

est joy,

And sing Thy praise upon the harp, O God, my God.

Refrain.-Why art thou cast down, my soul, and disquieted within me?

Hope thou in God, whom I will ever praise,
My present helper, and my God.

And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evilmerodach (Man of Merodach) king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin changed his prison garments, and ate at Evil-merodach's table continually all the days of his life. And for his allowance there was given him from the king of Babylon a stated allowance day by day until the day of his death.

(And the word of Jehovah came unto Ezekiel son of Buzi, the prophet, against the leaders of Judah, saying :)

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep? The fat ye eat, with the wool ye are clothed, the fatlings ye kill; but the sheep ye feed not. The diseased ye strengthened not, and the sick ye healed not, and the wounded ye bound not up, and that which was driven away ye brought not back, and the lost ye sought not,

but with violence and oppression ye ruled them. So they were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and became food for all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and over every high hill; yea, over all the face of the earth were they scattered, none searching, nor seeking them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah; thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I am against the shepherds, and will require My sheep from their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. So the shepherds. shall feed themselves no more, for I will deliver My sheep from their mouth, that they be not food for them.

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for My sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep, and deliver them out of all places whither they were scattered in the day of clouds and darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the water-courses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. In good pastures will I feed them; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall be their fold. There shall they lie down in a good fold, and in fat pastures shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I myself will feed My sheep, and cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah. I will seek the lost, and bring back that which was driven away, and bind up the wounded, and strengthen the sick. But the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in judgment.

As for you, O My flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah : Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, the rams and the

CLEANSING THE HEART.

29

goats. Was it not enough to feed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down the remnant of your pasture with your feet? Or to have drunk of the clear water, but ye must foul the remnant with your feet? As for My sheep, what ye have trodden with your feet they eat, and what ye have fouled with your feet they drink.

Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and the lean cattle. Because ye pushed with side and with shoulder, and thrust all the sickly with your horns, till ye scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, that they be no more a prey; judging between cattle and cattle. And I will set over them one shepherd, who shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. So I Jehovah will be their God, and My servant David prince among them; I Jehovah have spoken.

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Not for your sake do I this, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went; that I may sanctify My great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned among them; that the nations may know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. And I will take you from the nations, out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness, and

and gather you

from all your idols, will I cleanse you, and give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, that ye may