Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options
Close NET

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.
Close EXB

Ezekiel 34
Expanded Bible

The Leaders Are like Shepherds

34 The ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me, saying: 2 “·Human [T Son of man; 2:1], prophesy against the shepherds of Israel [C the leaders]. Prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves! ·Why don’t [Shouldn’t] the shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the ·milk curds [or fat], and you clothe yourselves with the wool. You kill the ·fat sheep [choice/fat ones], but you do not feed the flock. 4 You have not ·made the weak strong [strengthened the weak]. You have not healed the sick or put bandages on those that were hurt. You have not brought back those who strayed away or searched for the lost [Matt. 18:12; Luke 15:4]. But you have ruled the sheep with ·cruel force [violence and harshness]. 5 The sheep were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for every wild animal. 6 My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered all over the face of the earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 “‘So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: 8 As surely as I live, my flock has ·been caught [become prey] and eaten by all the wild animals, because the flock has no shepherd. The shepherds did not search for my flock. No, they fed themselves instead of my flock. 9 So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 10 This is what the Lord God says: [L Look; T Behold] I am against the shepherds. I will ·blame them for what has happened to my sheep [hold them accountable; L demand my sheep from their hand] and will not let them tend the flock anymore. Then the shepherds will stop feeding themselves, and I will ·take [rescue] my flock from their mouths so they will no longer be their food.

11 “‘This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep and ·take care of [look after; or look for] them. 12 As a shepherd ·take care of [looks after; or looks for] his scattered flock when ·it is found [or they are with him], I will ·take care of [look after; or look for] my sheep. I will ·save [rescue] them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land and ·pasture [feed] them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the places where people live in the land. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and they will ·eat grass [graze] on the ·high mountains [mountain heights] of Israel. They will lie down on good ·ground where they eat grass [pasture], and they will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock and ·lead them to rest [have them lie down], says the Lord God [Ps. 23; Is. 40:11]. 16 I will search for the lost, bring back those that strayed away [v. 4], put bandages on those that were hurt, and make the weak strong. But I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will ·tend [shepherd; feed] the sheep with ·fairness [justice].

17 “‘This is what the Lord God says: As for you, my flock, I will judge between one sheep and another, between the ·male sheep [rams] and the male goats [Matt. 25:32–33]. 18 Is it not enough for you to eat grass in the good ·land [pasture]? Must you ·crush [trample] the rest of the grass with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you make the rest of the water muddy with your feet? 19 Must my flock eat what you ·crush [trample], and must they drink what you make muddy with your feet?

20 “‘So this is what the Lord God says to them: [L Look; T Behold] I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. 21 You push with your side and with your shoulder, and you ·knock down [butt; thrust at] all the weak sheep with your horns until you have ·forced them away [or scattered them abroad]. 22 So I will save my flock; they will ·not be hurt anymore [L no longer be prey]. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 Then I will put over them one shepherd, my servant David [Is. 11:1; Jer. 30:9; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 5:2; C the Messiah envisioned as a new David]. He will feed them and tend them and be their shepherd. 24 Then I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a ·ruler [prince] among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

25 “‘I will make an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] of peace with ·my sheep [L them] and will remove ·harmful animals [wild beasts] from the land. Then the sheep will live safely in the ·desert [wilderness] and sleep in the woods. 26 I will ·bless them and let them live around my hill [or make them and the regions around my hill a blessing]. I will cause ·the rains [showers] to come ·when it is time [in their season]; there will be showers to bless them. 27 Also the trees ·in the countryside [L of the field] will ·give [yield] their fruit, and the land will give its ·harvest [produce; increase]. And the sheep will ·be safe [live securely] on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their ·captivity [L yoke] and ·save [rescue] them from the ·power [L hand] of those who made them slaves. 28 They will not be ·led captive by [prey for] the nations again. The wild animals will not ·eat [devour] them, but they will live safely, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will give them a place famous for its good crops, so they will no longer ·suffer from hunger [be victims of famine] in the land. They will not suffer the insults of other nations anymore. 30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them. The nation [L house] of Israel will know that they are my people, says the Lord God. 31 You, my sheep, are the human sheep ·I care for [L of my pasture; Ps. 95:7; 100:3], and I am your God, says the Lord God.’”

Next
Ezekiel 33
Ezekiel 35
Next
dropdown
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Expanded Bible (EXB)

The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.