¹⁵ I myself will feed my flock and make them lie down. This is what the Lord God says. ¹⁶ I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. But the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep^[a] with justice.

¹⁷ As for you, my flock, the Lord God proclaims: I will judge between the rams and the bucks among the sheep and the goats. ¹⁸ Is feeding in good pasture or drinking clear water such a trivial thing that you should trample and muddy what is left with your feet? ¹⁹ But now my flock must feed on what your feet have trampled and drink water that your feet have muddied.

²⁰ So the Lord God proclaims to them: I will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹ You shove with shoulder and flank, and with your horns you ram all the weak sheep until you’ve scattered them outside. ²² But I will rescue my flock so that they will never again be prey. I will even judge between the sheep!

²⁸ The nations will no longer prey on them, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, with no one to trouble them.

³⁰ They will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are my people. This is what the Lord God says. ³¹ You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are human, and I am your God. This is what the Lord God says.