1The word of the Lord came to me:2‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?3You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.4You have not strengthened the weak or healed those who are ill or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.5So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.6My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no-one searched or looked for them.7‘ “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:8as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:10this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.11‘ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.12As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.13I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.14I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.15I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.16I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.17‘ “As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?19Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?20‘ “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: see, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.21Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away,22I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.23I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.24I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.25‘ “I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety.26I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.[1] I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. (Ge 48:20)27The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them.28They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no-one will make them afraid.29I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.30Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.31You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.” ’
Ezekiel 34
English Standard Version
Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel
1The word of the Lord came to me:2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? (Jer 23:1; Eze 2:1; Eze 34:8; Eze 34:10; 2Co 12:14; Jud 1:12)3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. (Mic 3:2; Zec 11:4; Zec 11:16)4The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. (Ex 1:13; Eze 34:3; Eze 34:16; Eze 34:21; Mt 18:12; Lu 15:4; 1Pe 5:3)5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; (1Ki 22:17; Jer 50:7; Jer 50:17; Mt 9:36)6they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. (Eze 34:11)7“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:8As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, (Eze 16:48; Eze 34:22)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 put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. (Eze 3:18; Eze 13:8; Eze 13:21; Eze 34:2; Eze 34:8; Zec 11:8; Heb 13:17)
The Lord God Will Seek Them Out
11“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. (Mic 4:6; Lu 19:10; Joh 10:11)12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. (Eze 30:3; Joe 2:2; Zep 1:15)13And I 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 ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. (Eze 6:2; Eze 11:17)14I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. (Ps 23:2; Isa 32:18; Jer 33:12; Joh 10:9)15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. (Isa 40:11; Eze 34:14; Eze 34:23)16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.[1] I will feed them in justice. (Isa 10:16; Eze 34:4; Eze 34:20; Am 4:1; Mic 4:6)17“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats. (Eze 20:38; Eze 34:20; Eze 34:22; Zec 10:3; Mt 25:32)18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? (Eze 32:14)19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?20“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.21Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, (De 33:17; Eze 34:4; Da 8:4)22I will rescue[2] my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. (Eze 34:8)23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. (2Sa 5:2; Ps 78:71; Jer 23:4; Eze 34:15; Eze 37:22; Eze 37:24; Mic 5:4; Mic 7:14; Joh 10:11; Joh 10:16)24And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken. (Ex 29:45; Le 26:12; Eze 17:24; Eze 37:27)
The Lord’s Covenant of Peace
25“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. (Le 26:6; Isa 11:6; Isa 35:9; Isa 54:10; Eze 37:26; Eze 38:8; Eze 38:14; Eze 39:26; Ho 2:18)26And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. (Ge 12:2; Le 26:4; Isa 19:24; Eze 22:24; Zec 8:13; Mal 3:10)27And the trees of the field shall yield their 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 break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. (Le 26:4; Jer 30:8; Eze 6:7; Eze 34:25; Eze 36:30)28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. (Eze 34:22; Eze 34:25)29And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations. (Isa 60:21; Isa 61:3; Eze 32:24; Eze 36:29)30And they shall know that I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. (Eze 34:24)31And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.” (Ps 74:1; Ps 100:3; Joh 10:16)