Prophecy against Israel's Shepherds

1The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn't the shepherds feed the sheep? 3You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don't feed the sheep. 4You haven't strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them. 5They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. 6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.

7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep; 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

The Good Shepherd

(Psalm 23:1-6; John 10:1-21)

11For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. 16I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.

17As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats. 18Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? 19As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.

20Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; 22therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23I 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. 24I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it.

The Covenant of Peace

25I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them. 28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. 30They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. 31You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.