Ezekiel 34
34 1And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even
to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of
Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings;
but ye feed not the sheep.
4The diseased have ye not strengthened,
neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that
which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away,
neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor
have ye ruled over them.
5And they were scattered, because there was no
shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were
scattered.
6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every
high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and
there was none that did search or seek after them.
7Therefore, ye
shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
8As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah,
surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all
the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my
shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not
my sheep;
9therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:
10Thus
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
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.
11For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search
for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12As a shepherd seeketh 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 whither
they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
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 upon the mountains of Israel,
by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14I
will feed them with good pasture; and upon 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 upon the mountains of Israel.
15I myself will
be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the
Lord Jehovah.
16I 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.
17And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the
he-goats.
18Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good
pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture?
and to have drunk of the clear waters, but ye must foul the residue with your
feet?
19And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with
your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I,
will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21Because ye thrust
with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till
ye have scattered them abroad;
22therefore will I save my flock, and they
shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23And
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.
24And I,
Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I,
Jehovah, have spoken it.
25And I will make with them a covenant of peace,
and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell
securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26And 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.
27And 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 Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have
delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them.
28And
they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the
earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them
afraid.
29And I will raise up unto 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.
30And 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.
31And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am
your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.