Ezekiel 34

1 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?

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 You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.

Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock.

4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

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 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.

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 flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’

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, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:

8 ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,

[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, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!’

— therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah.

10 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand from them My flock and remove them from tending the flock, so that they can no longer feed themselves. For I will deliver My flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.’

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 this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I Myself will search for My flock and seek them out.

For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I, [even] I, will both search for my sheep, and tend them.

12 As a shepherd looks for his scattered sheep when he is among the flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places to which they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

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 I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.

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 good pasture, and the lofty mountains of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a good grazing land; they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

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 tend My flock and make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.

I will myself feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah.

16 I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken, and strengthen the weak; but the sleek and strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with justice.’

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 This is what the Lord GOD says to you, My flock: ‘I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the goats.

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 not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of the pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink the clear waters? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?

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 Why must My flock feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied?’

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 this is what the Lord GOD says to them: ‘Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

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 Since you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak ones with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,

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, and they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

— I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23 I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd.

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 I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

And I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken [it].

25 I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.

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 I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season—showers of blessing.

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 The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock 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 delivered them from the hands that enslaved them.

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 They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.

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 garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.

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 Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD.

And they shall know that I Jehovah their God [am] with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah.

31 ‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men: I [am] your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.