Prophecy against Israel's Shepherds

1And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy; and say unto them, unto the shepherds, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fattened: [but] ye feed not the flock. 4The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have ye healed the sick, and ye have not bound up [what was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought for that which was lost; but with harshness and with rigour have ye ruled over them. 5And they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered. 6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill, and my sheep have been scattered upon all the face of the earth, and there was none that searched, or that sought for them.

7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah: 8[As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily because my sheep have been a prey, and my sheep have been meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, and my shepherds searched not for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock, 9therefore, ye shepherds, Hear the word of Jehovah. 10Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock: that the shepherds may feed themselves no 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 saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I, [even] I, will both search for my sheep, and tend them. 12As a shepherd tendeth his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the water-courses, and in all the habitable 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 down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed upon the mountains of Israel. 15I will myself feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord Jehovah. 16I will seek the lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up the 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, my flock, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he-goats. 18Is it too small a thing unto you to have eaten up the good pastures, but ye must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; and to have drunk of the settled waters, but ye must foul the rest with your feet? 19And my sheep have to eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and to drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

20Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, [it is] I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the weak ones with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad, 22 -- I will save my flock, that they may no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

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 Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David a prince in their midst: I Jehovah have spoken [it].

The Covenant of Peace

25And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell in safety 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 its season: there shall be showers of blessing. 27And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase; and they shall be in safety in their land, and shall know that I [am] Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that kept them in servitude. 28And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beast of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell in safety, 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 ignominy of the nations any more. 30And they shall know that I Jehovah their God [am] with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord Jehovah. 31And ye, my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men: I [am] your God, saith the Lord Jehovah.