¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was destroying the people, he said to the Lord, “I alone have sinned, and I, the shepherd, have done evil,^[a] but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.”^(A)

Psalm 74

Plea for Help in Time of National Humiliation

A Maskil of Asaph.

¹⁶ David looked up and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.^{(A) 17} And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the command to count the people? It is I who have sinned and done very wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father’s house, but do not let your people be plagued!”^(B)

Judgment on David’s Sin

¹⁰ But afterward, David was stricken to the heart because he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, I pray you, take away the guilt of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”^(A)

²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,^[a] so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds^[b] you have been healed.^{(A) 25} For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.^[c](B)

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.^{(A) 12} The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.^(B)

The Shepherd Struck, the Flock Scattered

²³ I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd.^{(A) 24} And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.^(B)

² Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: To the shepherds—thus says the Lord God: Woe, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?^{(A) 3} You eat the fat; you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatted calves, but you do not feed the sheep.^{(B) 4} You have not strengthened the weak; you have not healed the sick; you have not bound up the injured; you have not brought back the strays; you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.^{(C) 5} So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and scattered they became food for all the wild animals.^{(D) 6} My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.