Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²d“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: eAh, shepherds of Israel fwho have been feeding yourselves! gShould not shepherds feed the sheep? ³hYou eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, iyou slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴jThe weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, hthe injured you have not bound up, hthe strayed you have not brought back, kthe lost you have not sought, and with force and lharshness you have ruled them. ⁵mSo they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and nthey became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; ⁶they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, owith none to search or seek for them.

⁷“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸pAs I live, declares the Lord God, surely because qmy sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God, rBehold, I am against the shepherds, and sI will require my sheep at their hand and tput a stop to their feeding the sheep. uNo longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. vI will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

¹¹“For thus says the Lord God: wBehold, I, I xmyself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹²As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ya day of clouds and zthick darkness. ¹³And I will bring them out from the peoples aand gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on bthe mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴cI will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. dThere they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵eI myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, dand I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶fI will seek the lost, gand I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and hthe fat and the strong I will destroy.1 I will feed them in justice.

¹⁷“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: iBehold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and jmale goats. ¹⁸Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of kclear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? ¹⁹And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

²⁰“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you push with side and shoulder, and lthrust at all the mweak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²²I will rescue2 my flock; nthey shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³And oI will set up over them one shepherd, pmy servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And qI, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. rI am the Lord; I have spoken.

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

²⁵s“I will make with them a covenant of peace and tbanish wild beasts from the land, uso that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶And I will make them and the places all around my hill va blessing, and wI will send down the showers in their season; they shall be xshowers of blessing. ²⁷yAnd the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, uand they shall be secure in their land. And zthey shall know that I am the Lord, when aI break the bars of their yoke, and adeliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸nThey shall no more be a prey to the nations, tnor shall the beasts of the land devour them. uThey shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹And I will provide for them brenowned plantations so that cthey shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer dsuffer the reproach of the nations. ³⁰And they shall know that qI am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹And you are my sheep, ehuman sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”