Restoration after Exile

23 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.^(A)

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me: “Take once more the implements of a worthless shepherd.^{(A) 16} For I am now raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for the perishing, or seek the wandering,^[a] or heal the maimed, or nourish the healthy,^[b] but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

² Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: To the shepherds—thus says the Lord God: Woe, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?^{(A) 3} You eat the fat; you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatted calves, but you do not feed the sheep.^{(B) 4} You have not strengthened the weak; you have not healed the sick; you have not bound up the injured; you have not brought back the strays; you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them.^{(C) 5} So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and scattered they became food for all the wild animals.^{(D) 6} My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep,^{(E) 9} therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: I am against the shepherds, and I will hold them accountable for my sheep and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.^(F)

³ Thus says the Lord God: Alas for the senseless prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!^(A)

³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.^(A)

⁴² “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others.^{(A) 43} Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.^{(B) 44} Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves on which people unknowingly walk.”^(C)

⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too.” ⁴⁶ And he said, “Woe also to you experts in the law! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them.^{(D) 47} Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed.^{(E) 48} So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ For this reason the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’^{(F) 50} so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation.^{(G) 52} Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”^(H)