Ezekiel 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 the shepherds,
Thus saith the Lord God; O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves?
do not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 Behold, ye feed on the milk, and
clothe yourselves with the wool, and slay the fat: but ye feed not my sheep.
4 The weak one ye have not
strengthened, and the sick ye have not cherished, and the bruised ye have not
bound up, and the stray one ye have not turned back, and the lost ye have not
sought; and the strong ye have wearied with labour.
5 And my sheep were scattered, because
there were no shepherds: and they became meat to all the wild beasts of the
field. 6 And my sheep were scattered
on every mountain, and on every high hill: yea, they were scattered on the
face of the earth, and there was none to seek them out, nor to bring them
back.
7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the
word of the Lord. 8 As I live, saith 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 For this cause, O shepherds,
10 thus saith 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 saith the Lord God,
Behold, I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them.
12 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 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 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 will feed my sheep, and I will
cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord: thus saith the
Lord God. 16 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 And
as for you, ye sheep, thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I will distinguish between sheep and sheep,
between rams and he-goats.
18 And
is it not enough for you that ye fed on the good
pasture, that ye trampled with your feet the remnant of your pasture? and
that ye drank the standing water,
that ye disturbed the residue with your feet?
19 So my sheep fed on that which ye
had trampled with your feet; and they drank the water that had been disturbed
by your feet.
20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.
21 Ye did thrust with your sides and
shoulders, and pushed with your horns, and ye cruelly treated all the sick.
22 Therefore I will save my sheep,
and they shall not be any more for a prey; and will judge between ram and ram.
23 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 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 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 And I will settle them round about
my mountain; and I will give you the rain, the rain of blessing.
27 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 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 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 And they shall know that I am the
Lord their God, and they my people. O house of Israel, saith the Lord God,
31 ye are my sheep, even the sheep of
my flock, and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.