¹⁷ “As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(A)Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and ^(B)male goats. ¹⁸ Is 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 ^(C)clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet? ¹⁹ And 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. ²¹ Because you push with side and shoulder, and ^(D)thrust at all the ^(E)weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²² I will rescue^[a] my flock; ^(F)they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ And ^(G)I will set up over them one shepherd, ^(H)my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(I)I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ^(J)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

^25 (K)“I will make with them a covenant of peace and ^(L)banish wild beasts from the land, ^(M)so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ And I will make them and the places all around my hill ^(N)a blessing, and ^(O)I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be ^(P)showers of blessing. ^27 (Q)And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, ^(R)and they shall be secure in their land. And ^(S)they shall know that I am the Lord, when ^(T)I break the bars of their yoke, and ^(U)deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ^28 (V)They shall no more be a prey to the nations, ^(W)nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. ^(X)They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹ And I will provide for them ^(Y)renowned plantations so that ^(Z)they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer ^(AA)suffer the reproach of the nations. ³⁰ And they shall know that ^(AB)I am the Lord their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹ And you are my sheep, ^(AC)human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.”