Yechezkel 34 יחזקאל ל״ד

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

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Yisra᾽el, prophesy, and say to them, to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God; Woe to the shepherds of Yisra᾽el that have fed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

You eat the fat, and clothe yourselves with the wool, you kill the fallings: but you do not feed the sheep.

You have not strengthened the weak, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound the crippled, nor have you brought back the strayed, nor have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them.

And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd: and they became food for all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: for my flock was dispersed upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

As I live, says the Lord God, surely since my flock has become a prey, and my sheep have become food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and I will put an end to their feeding the sheep; nor shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

For thus says the Lord God; Behold, I will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are strayed; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been dispersed in the cloudy and dark day.

And I will bring them out from among the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and pasture them upon the mountains of Yisra᾽el by the water courses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Yisra᾽el shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good pasture, and in a fat grazing land shall they feed upon the mountains of Yisra᾽el.

I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God.

I will seek that which was lost, and bring back the strayed, and will bind up the crippled, and will strengthen the sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will make them graze upon justice.

And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord God; Behold, I judge between one lamb and another, the rams and the he goats.

Is it so small a thing to you that you have eaten up the good pasture, but you must also tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture lands? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must also foul the residue with your feet?

And as for my sheep they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.

Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the weak ones with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad;

therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, namely my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.

And 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.

And 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; they will be showers of blessing.

And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be secure in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that enslaved them.

And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell in safety, and none shall make them afraid.

And I will raise up for them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, nor suffer any more the insult of the nations.

Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, the house of Yisra᾽el are my people, says the Lord God.

But you my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord God.