Ezekiel 34

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, be a prophet against the keepers of the flock of Israel, and say to them, O keepers of the sheep! this is the word of the Lord: A curse is on the keepers of the flock of Israel who take the food for themselves! is it not right for the keepers to give the food to the sheep?

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord God; O shepherds of Israel, do shepherds feed themselves? do not the shepherds feed the sheep?

3 You take the milk and are clothed with the wool, you put the fat beasts to death, but you give the sheep no food.

Behold, ye feed on the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool, and slay the fat: but ye feed not my sheep.

4 You have not made the diseased ones strong or made well that which was ill; you have not put bands on the broken or got back that which had been sent away or made search for the wandering ones; and the strong you have been ruling cruelly.

The weak one ye have not strengthened, and the sick ye have not cherished, and the bruised ye have not bound up, and the stray one ye have not turned back, and the lost ye have not sought; and the strong ye have wearied with labour.

5 And they were wandering in every direction because there was no keeper: and they became food for all the beasts of the field.

And my sheep were scattered, because there were no shepherds: and they became meat to all the wild beasts of the field.

6 And my sheep went out of the way, wandering through all the mountains and on every high hill: my sheep went here and there over all the face of the earth; and no one was troubled about them or went in search of them.

And my sheep were scattered on every mountain, and on every high hill: yea, they were scattered on the face of the earth, and there was none to seek them out, nor to bring them back.

7 For this cause, O keepers of the flock, give ear to the word of the Lord:

Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.

8 By my life, says the Lord, truly, because my sheep have been taken away, and my sheep became food for all the beasts of the field, because there was no keeper, and my keepers did not go in search of the sheep, but the keepers took food for themselves and gave my sheep no food;

[As] I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became meat to all the wild beasts of the field, because there were no shepherds, and the shepherds sought not out my sheep, and the shepherds fed themselves, but fed not my sheep.

9 For this reason, O you keepers of the flock, give ear to the word of the Lord;

For this cause, O shepherds,

10 This is what the Lord has said: See I am against the keepers of the flock, and I will make search and see what they have done with my sheep, and will let them be keepers of my sheep no longer; and the keepers will no longer get food for themselves; I will take my sheep out of their mouths so that they may not be food for them.

thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hands, and will turn them back that they shall not feed my sheep, and the shepherds shall no longer feed them; and I will deliver my sheep out of their mouth, and they shall no longer be meat for them.

11 For this is what the Lord has said: Truly, I, even I, will go searching and looking for my sheep.

For thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will seek out my sheep, and will visit them.

12 As the keeper goes looking for his flock when he is among his wandering sheep, so I will go looking for my sheep, and will get them safely out of all the places where they have been sent wandering in the day of clouds and black night.

As the shepherd seeks his flock, in the day when there is darkness and cloud, in the midst of the sheep that are separated: so will I seek out my sheep, and will bring them back from every place where they were scattered in the day of cloud and darkness.

13 And I will take them out from among the peoples, and get them together from the countries, and will take them into their land; and I will give them food on the mountains of Israel by the water-streams and wherever men are living in the country.

And I will bring them out from the Gentiles, and will gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land, and will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, and in the valleys, and in every inhabited place of the land.

14 I will give them good grass-land for their food, and their safe place will be the mountains of the high place of Israel: there they will take their rest in a good place, and on fat grass-land they will take their food on the mountains of Israel.

I will feed them in a good pasture, on a high mountain of Israel: and their folds shall be there, and they shall lie down, and there shall they rest in perfect prosperity, and they shall feed in a fat pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15 I myself will give food to my flock, and I will give them rest, says the Lord.

I will feed my sheep, and I will cause them to rest; and they shall know that I am the Lord: thus saith the Lord God.

16 I will go in search of that which had gone wandering from the way, and will get back that which had been sent in flight, and will put bands on that which was broken, and give strength to that which was ill: but the fat and the strong I will give up to destruction; I will give them for their food the punishment which is theirs by right.

I will seek that which is lost, and I will recover the stray one, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen the fainting, and will guard the strong, and will feed them with judgment.

17 And as for you, O my flock, says the Lord, truly, I will be judge between sheep and sheep, the he-sheep and the he-goats.

And [as for] you, ye sheep, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will distinguish between sheep and sheep, [between] rams and he-goats.

18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have taken your food on good grass-land while the rest of your grass-land is stamped down under your feet? and that after drinking from clear waters you make the rest of the waters dirty with your feet?

And [is it] not enough for you that ye fed on the good pasture, that ye trampled with your feet the remnant of your pasture? and [that] ye drank the standing water, [that] ye disturbed the residue with your feet?

19 And as for my sheep, their food is the grass which has been stamped on by your feet, and their drink the water which has been made dirty by your feet.

So my sheep fed on that which ye had trampled with your feet; and they drank the water that had been disturbed by your feet.

20 For this reason the Lord has said to them, Truly, I, even I, will be judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.

21 Because you have been pushing with side and leg, pushing the diseased with your horns till they were sent away in every direction;

Ye did thrust with your sides and shoulders, and pushed with your horns, and ye cruelly treated all the sick.

22 I will make my flock safe, and they will no longer be taken away, and I will be judge between sheep and sheep.

Therefore I will save my sheep, and they shall not be any more for a prey; and will judge between ram and ram.

23 And I will put over them one keeper, and he will give them food, even my servant David; he will give them food and be their keeper.

And I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall tend them, [even] my servant David, and he shall be their shepherd;

24 And I the Lord will be their God and my servant David their ruler; I the Lord have said it.

and I the Lord will be to them a God, and David a prince in the midst of them; I the Lord have spoken it.

25 And I will make with them an agreement of peace, and will put an end to evil beasts through all the land: and they will be living safely in the waste land, sleeping in the woods.

And I will make with David a covenant of peace and I will utterly destroy evil beasts from off the land; and they shall dwell in the wilderness, and sleep in the forests.

26 And I will give the rain at the right time, and I will make the shower come down at the right time; there will be showers of blessing.

And I will settle them round about my mountain; and I will give you the rain, the rain of blessing.

27 And the tree of the field will give its fruit and the earth will give its increase, and they will be safe in their land; and they will be certain that I am the Lord, when I have had their yoke broken and have given them salvation from the hands of those who made them servants.

And the trees that are in the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her strength, and they shall dwell in the confidence of peace on their land, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken their yoke; and I will deliver them out of the hand of those that enslaved them.

28 And their goods will no longer be taken by the nations, and they will not again be food for the beasts of the earth; but they will be living safely and no one will be a cause of fear to them.

And they shall no more be a spoil to the nations, and the wild beasts of the land shall no more at all devour them; and they shall dwell safely, and there shall be none to make them afraid.

29 And I will give them planting-places of peace, and they will no longer be wasted from need of food or put to shame by the nations.

And I will raise up for them a plant of peace, and they shall no more perish with hunger upon the land, and they shall no more bear the reproach of the nations.

30 And they will be certain that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, the children of Israel, are my people, says the Lord.

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and they my people. O house of Israel, saith the Lord God,

31 And you are my sheep, the sheep of my grass-lands, and I am your God, says the Lord.

ye are my sheep, even the sheep of my flock, and I am the Lord your God, saith the Lord God.