Ezekiel 34:1-19

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2 aSon of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: bAh, shepherds of Israel cwho have been feeding yourselves! dShould not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 eYou eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, fyou slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 gThe weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, hthe injured you have not bound up, ithe strayed you have not brought back, jthe lost you have not sought, and with force and kharshness you have ruled them. 5 lSo they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and mthey 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, nwith none to search or seek for them.

7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 oAs I live, declares the Lord God, surely because pmy 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, qBehold, I am against the shepherds, and rI will require my sheep at their hand and sput a stop to their feeding the sheep. tNo longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. uI will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

11For thus says the Lord God: vBehold, I, I wmyself 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 xa day of clouds and ythick darkness. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples zand gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on aathe mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 abI will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. acThere they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 adI myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, aeand I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 afI will seek the lost, agand I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and ahthe fat and the strong I will destroy.
Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate  I will watch over
I will feed them in justice.

17“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: ajBehold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and akmale 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 alclear 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?

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