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Ezekiel 34
New English Translation

A Prophecy Against False Shepherds

34 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds[a] of Israel; prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness[b] you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast.[c] 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the Lord’s message: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep. 9 Therefore, you shepherds, listen to the Lord’s message. 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds;[d] the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they will no longer be food for them.

11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day.[e] 13 I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. 14 In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush[f] pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them—with judgment!

17 “‘As for you, my sheep, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet? 19 As for my sheep, they must eat what you trampled with your feet and drink what you have muddied with your feet!

20 “‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad,[g] 22 I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another.

23 “‘I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them—namely, my servant David.[h] He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince[i] among them; I, the Lord, have spoken!

25 “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely[j] in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods.[k] 26 I will turn them and the regions around my hill into a blessing. I will make showers come down in their season; they will be showers that bring blessing.[l] 27 The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the earth will yield its crops. They will live securely on their land; they will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28 They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the wild beasts will not devour them. They will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will prepare for them a healthy[m] planting. They will no longer be victims[n] of famine in the land and will no longer bear the insults of the nations. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them,[o] and that they are my people, the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.[p] 31 And you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are my people,[q] and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 34:2 tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).
  2. Ezekiel 34:4 tn The term translated “harshness” is used to describe the oppression the Israelites suffered as slaves in Egypt (Exod 1:13).
  3. Ezekiel 34:5 tn As a case of dittography, the MT repeats “and they were scattered” at the end of the verse.
  4. Ezekiel 34:10 tn Heb “I will cause them to cease from feeding sheep.”
  5. Ezekiel 34:12 sn The imagery may reflect the overthrow of the Israelites by the Babylonians in 587/6 b.c.
  6. Ezekiel 34:14 tn Heb “good.”
  7. Ezekiel 34:21 tn Heb “outside.”
  8. Ezekiel 34:23 sn The messianic king is here called “David” (see Jer 30:9 and Hos 3:5, as well as Isa 11:1 and Mic 5:2) because he will fulfill the Davidic royal ideal depicted in the prophets and royal psalms (see Pss 2; 89).
  9. Ezekiel 34:24 sn The messianic king (“David”) is called both “king” and “prince” in 37:24-25. The use of the term “prince” for this king facilitates the contrast between this ideal ruler and the Davidic “princes” denounced in earlier prophecies (see 7:27; 12:10, 12; 19:1; 21:25; 22:6, 25).
  10. Ezekiel 34:25 tn The phrase “live securely” occurs in Ezek 28:26; 38:8, 11, 14; 39:26 as an expression of freedom from fear. It is a promised blessing resulting from obedience (see Lev 26:5-6).
  11. Ezekiel 34:25 sn The woods were typically considered to be places of danger (Ps 104:20-21; Jer 5:6).
  12. Ezekiel 34:26 tn Heb “showers of blessing.” Abundant rain, which in turn produces fruit and crops (v. 27), is a covenantal blessing for obedience (Lev 26:4).
  13. Ezekiel 34:29 tc The MT reads לְשֵׁם (leshem, “for a name”), meaning perhaps a renowned planting (place). The translation takes this to be a metathesis of שָׁלֹם (shalom), as was read by the LXX.
  14. Ezekiel 34:29 tn Heb “those gathered” for famine.
  15. Ezekiel 34:30 sn A promise given to Abraham (Gen 15:7) and his descendants (Gen 15:8; Exod 6:7).
  16. Ezekiel 34:30 sn The blessings described in vv. 25-30 are those promised for obedience in Lev 26:4-13.
  17. Ezekiel 34:31 tn Heb, “the sheep of my pasture, you are human.” See 36:37-38 for a similar expression. The possessive pronoun “my” is supplied in the translation to balance “I am your God” in the next clause.
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Ezekiel 34
American Standard Version

34 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, even to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep? 3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill the fatlings; but ye feed not the sheep. 4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought back that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor have ye ruled over them. 5 And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and there was none that did search or seek after them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 8 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely forasmuch as my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my sheep; 9 therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

11 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in [a]the cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.

17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats. 18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 19 And as for my sheep, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; 22 therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. 24 And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Jehovah, have spoken it.

25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them. 28 And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 And I will raise up unto them a [b]plantation for renown, and they shall be no more [c]consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. 30 And they shall know that I, Jehovah, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah. 31 And ye my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 34:12 Hebrew the day of clouds and thick darkness.
  2. Ezekiel 34:29 Or, plant
  3. Ezekiel 34:29 Hebrew taken away.
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