Ezekiel 34

The shepherds and the flock

1The word of the LORD came to me: 2“Son of man, prophesy against Israel’s shepherds. Prophesy and tell them: This is what the Lord GOD says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should shepherds not feed the flock? 3You eat the fat, wear the wool, and slaughter the well-fed animals, but you do not feed the flock. 4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead you have ruled them with force and cruelty. 5They scattered because they had no shepherd. They became food for every wild beast, and they scattered. 6My flock wanders over all the mountains and every high hill. My flock is scattered across the whole earth, with no one searching or seeking them. 7“Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 8As I live, declares the Lord GOD, my flock has become plunder and food for every wild beast because it has no shepherd. My shepherds did not search for my flock; they fed themselves and did not feed my flock. 9Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 10This is what the Lord GOD says: I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from their hands and remove them from tending it. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, so it will no longer be food for them.

The LORD seeks his sheep

11“For this is what the Lord GOD says: I myself will search for my flock and look after them. 12As a shepherd looks after a flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will look after my flock. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered on a day of cloud and thick darkness. 13I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the lands, and bring them to their own soil. I will feed them on Israel’s mountains, in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14I will feed them in good pasture, and Israel’s high mountains will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land and feed on rich pasture on Israel’s mountains. 15I myself will feed my flock, and I myself will let them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16I will search for the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured, and strengthen the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with justice.

Judgment within the flock

17“As for you, my flock, this is what the Lord GOD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, between rams and male goats. 18Is it not enough for you to feed on good pasture? Must you trample what remains? Is it not enough to drink clear water? Must you muddy the rest with your feet? 19Must my flock 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 will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21You shove with flank and shoulder and butt all the weak with your horns until you have driven them away. 22So I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plunder. I will judge between one sheep and another.

One shepherd and a covenant of peace

23I will raise up one shepherd over them, my servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. 24I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken. 25“I will make a covenant of peace with them and remove harmful beasts from the land. They will live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests. 26I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will send rain in its season; there will be showers of blessing. 27The trees of the field will bear fruit, and the earth will yield its crops. They will live safely on their own soil. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from those who enslaved them. 28They will no longer be plunder for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them. They will live safely, with no one making them afraid. 29I will provide a planting of renown for them. They will no longer be taken away by famine in the land or bear the disgrace of the nations. 30Then 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. 31You are my flock, the flock of my pasture; you are human beings, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.”