< Ezekiel 34 >

1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, 'Thus says the LORD: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep?
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God; O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? do not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.
Behold, you feed on the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and kill the fat: but you feed not my sheep.
4 You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.
The weak one you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not cherished, and the bruised you have not bound up, and the stray one you have not turned back, and the lost you have not sought; and the strong you have wearied with labor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field.
And my sheep were scattered, because there were no shepherds: and they became meat to all the wild beasts of the field.
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; and there was none who searched or sought."'
And my sheep were scattered on every mountain, and on every high hill: yes, they were scattered on the face of the earth, and there was none to seek them out, nor to bring them back.
7 "'"Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.
8 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep';
[As] I live, says 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 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:
For this cause, O shepherds,
10 Thus says the LORD: 'Look, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.'"
thus says 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 says the LORD: "Look, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
For thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
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 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 watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
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 with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel.
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 myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down," says the LORD.
I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord: thus 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 the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice."
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 "'As for you, O my flock, thus says the LORD: "Look, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
And [as for] you, you sheep, thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will distinguish between sheep and sheep, [between] rams and he-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 you must foul the residue with your feet?
And [is it] not enough for you that you fed on the good pasture, that you trampled with your feet the remnant of your pasture? and [that] you drank the standing water, [that] you disturbed 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."
So my sheep fed on that which you had trampled with your feet; and they drank the water that had been disturbed by your feet.
20 "'Therefore thus says the LORD to them: "Look, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
Therefore thus says the Lord God; Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
You did thrust with your sides and shoulders, and pushed with your horns, and you cruelly treated all the sick.
22 therefore I will save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
Therefore I will save my sheep, and they shall not be any more for a prey; and will judge between ram and ram.
23 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.
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 I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them;" I, the LORD, have spoken it.
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 "'I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
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 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing.
And I will settle them round about my mountain; and I will give you the rain, the rain of blessing.
27 The tree of the field shall yield its 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 have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
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 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
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 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.
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 They shall know that I, the LORD, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people," says the LORD.
And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they my people. O house of Israel, says the Lord God,
31 "You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God," says the LORD.'"
you are my sheep, even the sheep of my flock, and I am the Lord your God, says the Lord God.

< Ezekiel 34 >