Ezequiel 34

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 them, So says the Lord Jehovah to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you kill the fat ones, [but] you do not feed the flock.

⁴ You have not made the weak strong, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound up the broken. You have not brought again those driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled them with force and with cruelty.

⁵ And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.

⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yea, My flock was scattered on all the face of the earth, and none searched nor sought for them.

⁷ Therefore, shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD:

⁸ [As] I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food to every beast of the field, because [there was] no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search [for] My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock,

⁹ therefore, O shepherds, hear the Word of the LORD.

¹⁰ So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I [am] against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Nor shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, and they will not be food to devour.

¹¹ For so says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all places where 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 lands, and will bring them to their own land and feed them on the mountain of Israel by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live.

¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie in a good fold, and [in] a fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁶ I will seek the lost, and bring again those driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ And you, My flock, says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between lamb and lamb, [between] rams and he-goats.

¹⁸ Is it a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the rest with your feet?

¹⁹ And My flock, they eat [what] your feet have trampled, and they drink [what] your feet have fouled.

²⁰ So the Lord Jehovah says this to them: Behold I Myself will even judge between the fat lamb and the lean lamb.

²¹ Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and have pushed all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them to the outside,

²² therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between lamb and lamb.

²³ And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd.

²⁴ And I the LORD will be their God, and My servant David a ruler among them. I the LORD have spoken.

²⁵ And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will send the evil beasts out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

²⁶ And I will make them, and the places around My hill, a blessing; and I will bring down the shower in its season. There shall be showers of blessing.

²⁷ And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And they shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hands of those who enslaved them.

²⁸ And no more shall they be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land eat them. But they shall dwell safely, and none shall terrify [them].

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a [noted] planting place, and they shall never again [be of] those gathered by famine in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations any more.

³⁰ And they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, [am] with them, and they, the house of Israel, [are] My people, says the Lord Jehovah.

³¹ And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, [are] men, and I [am] your God, says the Lord Jehovah.