1 Then the word of the Loʀᴅ came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the AJer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to 1Lit them, the shepherdsthose shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord 2Heb YHWH, usually rendered Loʀᴅ, and so throughout the chGoᴅ, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been 3Lit pasturing, pastureBJer 23:1; Ezek 22:25; 34:8-10; Mic 3:1-3, 11feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds 3Lit pasturing, pastureCPs 78:71, 72; Is 40:11; Ezek 34:14, 15; John 10:11; 21:15-17feed the flock? 3  “You AZech 11:16eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you BEzek 22:25, 27slaughter the fat sheep without 1Lit pasturingfeeding the flock. 4  “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the 1Lit sickdiseased you have not healed, AZech 11:16the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you BMatt 9:36; 10:6; 18:12, 13; Luke 15:4sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. 5  “They were ANum 27:17; 2 Chr 18:16; Jer 10:21; 23:2; 50:6, 7; Matt 9:36; Mark 6:34scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became BEzek 34:8, 28food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6  “My flock AJer 40:11, 12; Ezek 7:16; 1 Pet 2:25wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; BJohn 10:16My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was CPs 142:4no one to search or seek for them.” ’ ”

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Loʀᴅ: 8 “As I live,” declares the Lord Goᴅ, “surely because My flock has become a AActs 20:29prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Loʀᴅ: 10 ‘Thus says the Lord Goᴅ, “Behold, I am AJer 21:13; Ezek 5:8; 13:8; 34:2; Zech 10:3against the shepherds, and I will demand My 1Or (a) flocksheep 2Lit from their handfrom them and make them B1 Sam 2:29, 30; Jer 52:24-27cease from feeding 1Or (a) flocksheep. So the shepherds will not 3Lit pasture, and so throughout the chfeed themselves anymore, but I will CPs 72:12-14; Ezek 13:23deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.” ’ ”

11 For thus says the Lord Goᴅ, “Behold, I Myself will AEzek 11:17; 20:41search for My sheep and seek them out. 12  “AJer 31:10As a shepherd 1Or seek(s) outcares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered 2Or flocksheep, so I will 1Or seek(s) outBIs 40:11; 56:8; Jer 23:3; 31:8; Luke 19:10; John 10:16care for My 2Or flocksheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a CJer 13:16; Ezek 30:3; Joel 2:2cloudy and gloomy day. 13  “I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will AEzek 34:23; 36:29, 30; Mic 7:14feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the BIs 30:25streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14  “I will feed them in a APs 23:2; Jer 31:12-14, 25; John 10:9good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in 1Lit fatBEzek 28:25, 26; 36:29, 30rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15  “I will APs 23:1, 2; Ezek 34:23feed My flock and I will 1Lit cause them to lie downlead them to rest,” declares the Lord Goᴅ. 16 “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the AIs 10:16fat and the strong I will destroy. I will BIs 49:26feed them with judgment.

17 “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord Goᴅ, ‘Behold, I will AEzek 20:38; 34:20-22; Mal 4:1; Matt 25:32judge between one 1Or lambsheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. 18  ‘Is it too ANum 16:9, 13; 2 Sam 7:19; Is 7:13slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must 1Lit foul by tramplingfoul the rest with your feet? 19  ‘As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you 1Lit foul by tramplingfoul with your feet!’ ”

20 Therefore, thus says the Lord Goᴅ to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21  “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and ADeut 33:17; Dan 8:4; Luke 13:14-16thrust at all the 1Or sickweak with your horns until you have scattered them 2Lit to the outsideabroad, 22 therefore, I will APs 72:12-14; Jer 23:3; Ezek 34:10deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “Then I will ARev 7:17set over them one BIs 40:11; John 10:11shepherd, My servant CJer 30:9; Ezek 37:24David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24  “And I, the Loʀᴅ, will be their God, and My servant AIs 55:3; Jer 30:9; Ezek 37:24, 25; Hos 3:5David will be prince among them; I the Loʀᴅ have spoken.

25 “I will make a AEzek 16:60; 20:37; 37:26covenant of peace with them and BJob 5:22, 23; Is 11:6-9eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may CJer 33:16; Ezek 28:26; 34:27, 28live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26  “I will make them and the places around My hill a AGen 12:2; Ezek 34:14blessing. And I will cause BDeut 11:13-15; 28:12showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of CLev 25:21; Is 44:3blessing. 27  “Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be AEzek 38:8, 11secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Loʀᴅ, when I have BLev 26:13; Is 52:2, 3; Jer 30:8broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28  “They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will AJer 30:10; Ezek 39:26live securely, and no one will make them afraid. 29  “I will establish for them a AIs 4:2; 60:21; 61:3renowned planting place, and they will BEzek 34:26, 27; 36:29not again be 1Lit those gatheredvictims of famine in the land, and they will not CEzek 36:6, 15endure the insults of the nations anymore. 30  “Then they will know that APs 46:7, 11; Ezek 14:11; 36:28I, the Loʀᴅ their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord Goᴅ. 31 “As for you, My APs 78:52; 80:1; Ezek 36:38sheep, the BPs 100:3; Jer 23:1sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord Goᴅ.