Ezekiel 34
1And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2Son
of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds;
Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but
ye feed not the flock.
4The diseased have
ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have
ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have
ye ruled them.
5And they were scattered, because
there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my
flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
8As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock
became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but
the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
9Therefore,
O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
10Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease
from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth,
that they may not be meat for them.
11For
thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that
are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the
cloudy and dark day.
13And I will bring them
out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there
shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
16I will seek that which was lost, and bring
again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will
destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17And
as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
18Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have
eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep
waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?
19And
as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them;
Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.
21Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns,
till ye have scattered them abroad;
22Therefore
will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.
23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24And
I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts
to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will
cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
27And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they
shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered
them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28And
they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely,
and none shall make them afraid.
29And I will
raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of
the heathen any more.
30Thus shall they know
that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.
31And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the
Lord GOD.