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The Leaders Are Like Shepherds

34 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, who are like shepherds. Prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves! Why don’t the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the milk curds from the sheep. You clothe yourselves with the wool from the sheep. You kill the fat sheep. But you do not feed the flock. ⁴ You have not made the weak strong. You have not healed the sick. You have not put bandages on those that were hurt. You have not brought back those who strayed away. You have not searched for the lost. You ruled the sheep with cruel force. ⁵ The sheep were scattered because there was no shepherd. Then they became food for every wild animal. ⁶ My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over all 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. It has become food for all the wild animals. This is 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: I am against the shepherds. I will blame them for what has happened to my sheep. I will not let them tend the flock anymore. Then the shepherds will stop feeding themselves. And I will take my flock from their mouths. My sheep will no longer be their food.

¹¹ “‘This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep. I will take care of them. ¹² A shepherd will take care of his scattered flock when it is found. In the same way I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they are scattered. I will do this on a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains and in the ravines of Israel. And I will feed them in all the places where people live in the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture. They will eat grass on the high mountains of Israel. They will lie down on good ground where they eat grass. They will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed my flock and lead them to rest, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost. I will bring back those that were scattered. I will put bandages on those that were hurt. I will make the weak strong. I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will tend the sheep with fairness.

¹⁷ “‘This is what the Lord God says: And as for you, my flock, I will judge between one sheep and another. I will judge between the male sheep and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it not enough for you to eat grass in the good land? Must you crush 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? And must they drink what you make muddy with your feet?

²⁰ “‘So this is what the Lord God says to them: I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. ²¹ You push with your side and with your shoulder. You knock down all the weak sheep with your horns. You do this until you have forced them away. ²² So I will save my flock. They will not be hurt anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ Then I will put one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them. He will tend them and will be their shepherd. ²⁴ Then I, the Lord, will be their God. And my servant David will be a ruler among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.

²⁵ “‘And I will make an agreement of peace with my sheep. I will remove harmful animals from the land. Then the sheep will live safely in the desert. And they will sleep in the woods without danger. ²⁶ I will bless them and let them live around my hill. I will cause the rains to come when it is time for them. There will be showers to bless them. ²⁷ Also the trees of the field will give their fruit. The land will give its harvest. And the sheep will be safe on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I will break the bars of their captivity. And I will save them from the power of those who made them slaves. ²⁸ They will not be led captive by the nations again. The wild animals will not eat them. But they will live safely. No one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will give them a place famous for its good crops. Then they will no longer suffer from hunger 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 of Israel will know that they are my people, says the Lord God. ³¹ And you, my sheep, are the sheep of my pasture. You are my people and I am your God, says the Lord God.’”

Prophecy Against Edom

35 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, look toward Mount Edom and prophesy against it. ³ Say to it: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I am against you, Mount Edom. I will stretch out my hand against you. And I will make you an empty desert. ⁴ I will destroy your cities. And you will become empty. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵ “‘This is because you have always been an enemy of Israel. You let them be defeated in war when they were in trouble. It was the time of their final punishment. ⁶ So the Lord God says, As surely as I live, I will let you be murdered. Murder will chase you. You did not hate murdering people, so murder will chase you. ⁷ And I will make Mount Edom an empty ruin. And I will destroy everyone who goes in or comes out of it. ⁸ I will fill its mountains with those who are killed. Those killed in war will fall on your hills. They will fall in your valleys and in all your ravines. ⁹ I will make you a ruin forever. No one will live in your cities. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “‘You said, “These two nations, Israel and Judah, and these two lands will be ours. We will take them for our own.” But the Lord was there. ¹¹ So this is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, this is true. I will treat you just as you treated them. When you were angry and jealous, you acted hatefully against them. I will punish you. And that is how I will show the Israelites who I am. ¹² Then you will know that I, the Lord God, have heard all your insults. Those insults were against the mountains of Israel. You said, “They have been ruined. They have been given to us to eat.” ¹³ You have not stopped your proud talk against me. I have heard you. ¹⁴ This is what the Lord God says: All the earth will be happy when I make you an empty ruin. ¹⁵ You were happy when the land of Israel was ruined. But I will do the same thing to you. Mount Edom and all Edom, you will become an empty ruin. Then you will know that I am the Lord God.’”

Israel to Come Home

36 “Human being, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: ‘Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ² This is what the Lord God says: The enemy has said this against you: “Now the old places to worship false gods have become ours.”’ ³ So prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Lord God says: They have made you an empty ruin. They have crushed you from all around. You belonged to the other nations. People talked and whispered against you. ⁴ So, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. The Lord God speaks to the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys. And he speaks to the empty ruins and abandoned cities that have been robbed and laughed at by the other nations. ⁵ This is what the Lord God says: I have spoken in hot anger against the other nations. I have spoken against Edom. The Edomites took my land for themselves. They did this with joy and with hate in their hearts. They forced out the people and took their pastureland.’ ⁶ So prophesy about the land of Israel. Say to the mountains, hills, ravines and valleys: ‘This is what the Lord God says: I speak in my jealous anger. This is because you have suffered the insults of the nations. ⁷ So this is what the Lord God says: I promise that the nations around you will also have to suffer insults.

⁸ “‘But you, mountains of Israel, you will grow branches and fruit for my people. My people will soon come home. ⁹ I am concerned about you. I am for you. You will be plowed, and seed will be planted in you. ¹⁰ I will multiply the people who live on you. All the people of Israel will come. The cities will have people living in them. The ruins will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will make the people and animals living on you increase in number. They will grow and be fruitful. You will have people living on you as you did before. I will make you better off than at the beginning. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² I will cause my people Israel to walk on you. Then they will take you, and you will belong to them. You will never again take their children away from them.

¹³ “‘This is what the Lord God says: People say about you: “You eat people and take children from your nation.” ¹⁴ You will not destroy people anymore. You will not make your nation stumble anymore, says the Lord God. ¹⁵ I will not make you listen to insults from the nations anymore. You will not suffer shame from them anymore, says the Lord God.’”

The Lord Acts for Himself

¹⁶ The Lord spoke his word to me again. He said: ¹⁷ “Human being, the nation of Israel was living in their own land. But they made it unclean by their ways and the things they did. Their ways were like a woman’s uncleanness in her time of monthly bleeding. ¹⁸ So I poured out my anger against them. I did it because of the murders they did in the land. And I did it because they made the land unclean with their idols. ¹⁹ I scattered them among the nations. And they were spread through all the countries. I punished them for how they lived and the things they did. ²⁰ They dishonored my holy name in the nations where they went. The nations said about them: ‘These are the people of the Lord. But they had to leave the land which he gave them.’ ²¹ But I felt bad about my holy name. The nation of Israel had dishonored it among the nations where they went.

²² “So say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: Israel, I am going to act, but not for your sake. Israel, I will do something to help my holy name. You have dishonored it among the nations where you went. ²³ I will prove the holiness of my great name. It has been dishonored among the nations. You have dishonored it among these nations. But the nations will know that I am the Lord. I will prove myself holy before their eyes, says the Lord God.

²⁴ “‘I will take you from the nations. I will gather you out of all the lands. And I will bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and your idols. ²⁶ Also, I will teach you to respect me completely. I will put a new way to think inside you. I will take out the stubborn heart like stone from your bodies. And I will give you an obedient heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put my Spirit inside you. And I will help you live by my rules. You will be careful to obey my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave to your ancestors. So you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Also, I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will command the grain to come and grow. I will not allow a time of hunger to hurt you. ³⁰ I will multiply the harvest of the field. You will never again suffer shame among the nations because of hunger. ³¹ And you will remember your evil ways and the things you did that were not good. Then you will hate yourselves because of your sins and terrible acts that I hate. ³² I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, says the Lord God. Be ashamed and embarrassed about your ways, Israel.

³³ “‘This is what the Lord God says: This is what will happen on the day I cleanse you from all your sins: I will cause the cities to have people living in them again. And the destroyed places will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The empty land will be plowed. It will no longer be a ruin for everyone who passes by to see. ³⁵ They will say: “This land was ruined. Now it has become like the garden of Eden. The cities were destroyed. They were empty and ruined. But now they are protected and have people living in them.” ³⁶ Then those nations still around you will know. They will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was destroyed. And I have planted what was empty. I, the Lord, have spoken. And I will do it.’

³⁷ “This is what the Lord God says: I will again be asked by the people of Israel to do this thing for them. I will make their people grow to be as many as a flock of sheep. ³⁸ They will be like the flocks brought to Jerusalem during her holy feasts. Her ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”