The Shepherds and God’s Flock

34 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves!(A) Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock? You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.(B) You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost.(C) Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty. They were scattered for lack of a shepherd;(D) they became food for all the wild animals(E) when they were scattered. My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill.(F) They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.

“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live”—the declaration of the Lord God—“because My flock has become prey and food for every wild animal since they lack a shepherd, for My shepherds do not search for My flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than My flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord!

10 “This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds.(G) I will demand My flock from them[a] and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue My flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 34:10 Lit their hand

Prophecy Concerning Israel’s Shepherds and Sheep

34 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying, “Son of man,[b] prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock? The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and with respect to[c] the hurt[d] you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force[e] and with ruthlessness. And they were scattered without[f] a shepherd, and they were[g] as food for all the animals[h] of the field when they were scattered. My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world[i] my flock were scattered, and there was no one seeking them,[j] and there was no one searching for them.”[k] Therefore, hear, O shepherds, the word of Yahweh: As I live,”[l] declares[m] the Lord Yahweh, “Surely[n] because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to[o] all the animals[p] of the field, since there was not a shepherd, since my shepherds have not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,’” therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh, 10 ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will no longer[q] feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 34:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 34:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  3. Ezekiel 34:4 Literally “for”
  4. Ezekiel 34:4 Or “wounded”
  5. Ezekiel 34:4 Or “violence”
  6. Ezekiel 34:5 Literally “from not”
  7. Ezekiel 34:5 Or “became”
  8. Ezekiel 34:5 Hebrew “animal”
  9. Ezekiel 34:6 Or “earth”
  10. Ezekiel 34:6 Literally “there was not someone seeking them
  11. Ezekiel 34:6 Literally “there was not someone searching for them
  12. Ezekiel 34:8 Literally “live I”
  13. Ezekiel 34:8 Literally “declaration of”
  14. Ezekiel 34:8 Literally “if not”
  15. Ezekiel 34:8 Or “for”
  16. Ezekiel 34:8 Hebrew “animal”
  17. Ezekiel 34:10 Literally “not any longer”