20 “‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over, 22 I will save my flock. They will no longer be prey, and I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will establish over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.(A) 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David(B) will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

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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,[a] 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.[b] He will feed them and will be their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince[c] among them; I, the Lord, have spoken!

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 34:21 tn Heb “outside.”
  2. 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).
  3. 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).