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² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds that this is what the Lord God says.

Woe to you, shepherds of Israel, who have been shepherding for themselves. Aren’t shepherds supposed to shepherd for the benefit of the sheep? ³ You eat the fat.^[a] You wear the wool. You slaughter the fattened ones—but you do not shepherd the flock. 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, and you have not searched for the lost. Instead you have abused them with force and with violence. ⁵ So they scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep scattered and ⁶ wandered all over the mountains and on every high hill. Over the face of the whole earth, my flock was scattered, with no one looking for them and no one searching for them.

⁷ Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. ⁸ As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, because my flock has become plunder, and because my flock has become food for all the wild animals, because they have no shepherd and my shepherds did not concern themselves about my flock, but the shepherds took care of themselves instead of taking care of my flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

¹⁰ This is what the Lord God says. I am against the shepherds. Watch! I will remove my flock from their hand. I will remove them from taking care of the sheep, and no longer will those shepherds take care of themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, so that they will no longer be food for them.

¹¹ For this is what the Lord God says. Here I am. I myself will seek the welfare of my flock and carefully search for them. ¹² As a shepherd searches for his flock when his sheep that were with him have been scattered, so I will search for my flock and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own soil. I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the settlements of the land. ¹⁴ I will lead them into good pasture, and their grazing land will be on the high mountains of Israel. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and they will pasture on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will shepherd my flock. I myself will let them lie down, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured. I will strengthen the weak. I will destroy the fat and the strong, and I will shepherd them with justice.

¹⁷ What about you, my flock? This is what the Lord God says. I am going to judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Isn’t it enough for you that you feed on the good pasture? Must you trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? Isn’t it enough that you drink the clear water? Must you muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ Then my flock has to feed on what your feet have trampled and drink what your feet have muddied. ²⁰ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them. I myself am going to judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. ²¹ Because you have shoved them with your side and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns, until you scattered them abroad, ²² I will save my flock so that they will not become plunder anymore. In this way I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ Then I will raise up over them one shepherd, and he will tend them. My servant David will tend them, and he will be their shepherd. ²⁴ I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be the prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken. ²⁵ Then I will establish a covenant of peace with them, and I will rid the land of wild animals, so they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.

²⁶ I will make them and the area around my hill a blessing. I will send the rain showers down in their season. They will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees in the field will yield their fruit, and the earth will yield its produce. They will be secure on their own land and 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 No more will they be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in security, with no one to make them afraid. ²⁹ I will establish for them farmland famous for its crops, so that they will no longer be carried off by famine that is taking place in the land. They will no longer bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰ They will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord God. ³¹ You are my flock of sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and you are my people, and I am your God, declares the Lord God.

This is what the Lord God says. I am against you, Mount Seir. I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate wasteland. ⁴ I will make your cities ruins, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵ Because you cherished an ancient hatred and turned the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of their final punishment, ⁶ therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will subject you to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you. Because you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a desolate wasteland and cut off from it all those who flee from it and want to return.^{[b] 8} I will fill its mountains with its slain. On your hills and in your valleys and in all your streambeds, those who have been run through by the sword will fall. ⁹ I will make you desolate forever, and your cities will not be re-inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ Because you said, “These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess them, even though the Lord was there,” ¹¹ therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, I will treat you as you deserve for your anger and for your jealousy which you held against these two nations in your hostility, and I will make myself known among them when I judge you. ¹² Then you will know that I, the Lord, have heard all the contemptuous statements that you uttered against the mountains of Israel: “They have been devastated and given to us for food.” ¹³ With your mouth you made proud boasts against me and heaped up arrogant words against me. I have heard it myself. ¹⁴ This is what the Lord God says. While the whole world celebrates, I will make you a desolation. ¹⁵ Because you celebrated when you took possession of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I deal with you. Mount Seir, you will be desolate, along with all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord.

² This is what the Lord God says.

Because the enemy said about you, “Aha! At last! The ancient heights have become our possession,” ³ you are to prophesy and say, “This is what the Lord God says.”

Because they have devastated and crushed you from all sides, so that you would become the possession of the rest of the nations and a subject of people’s gossip and slander, ⁴ therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. This is what the Lord God says to the mountains, hills, valleys, ravines, desolate ruins, and abandoned cities, which have become a source of plunder and are subjected to ridicule by the rest of the nations all around.

⁵ So, this is what the Lord God says. Without fail, in my fiery zeal I am speaking against the rest of the nations and against all of Edom, because they took my land as their own with whole-hearted glee and deep-seated contempt, and they occupied its pastureland. ⁶ Therefore, prophesy about the land of Israel and say to the mountains, hills, valleys, and ravines: This is what the Lord God says. In my zeal and wrath I am speaking because you have endured the taunts of the nations.

⁷ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. I swear with an uplifted hand that the nations all around you will endure taunts against them. ⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, will shoot forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, because they will soon come back. ⁹ Yes, I am on your side. I will look on you with favor, and your land will be cultivated and planted. ¹⁰ I will multiply people for you, for the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be resettled and the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹ I will multiply both people and animals on you. They will multiply and be fruitful. I will resettle you as you were in earlier times and do more good for you than I did when you began. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will cause people, my people Israel, to walk over you. They will take possession of you. You will become their inheritance, and never again will you deprive them of their children.

¹³ This is what the Lord God says. Because some people say to you, “You devour your people and keep on depriving your nations^[c] of their children,” ¹⁴ therefore, you will no longer devour your people or deprive your nations of their children, declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ No longer will I let you hear the taunts of the nations or endure the scorn of the peoples. Never again will you deprive your nations of their children, declares the Lord God.