The Shepherds Who Betrayed Their Flock—and the Promise of Renewal
Ezekiel 34
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep.
4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed the sick. You haven’t bound up the broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost; but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 My 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 no one who searched or sought.”
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
8 “As 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;
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
10 The Lord Yahweh says: 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 will the shepherds feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
11 “‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture; and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold; and they will feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh.
16 “I 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 I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.”
17 “‘As for you, my flock, the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
18 Is it a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the rest with your feet?
19 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.”
20 “‘Therefore the Lord Yahweh says to them: “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
22 therefore I will save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
25 I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. They will 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.
28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more.
30 They will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,” says the Lord Yahweh.
31 “‘You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
Ezekiel 35
1 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3 and tell it, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you. I will make you a desolation and an astonishment.
4 I will lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
5 Because you have had a perpetual hatred, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end;
6 therefore as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you. Since you have not hated blood, therefore blood will pursue you.
7 Thus I will make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.
8 I will fill its mountains with its slain. Those who are slain by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your watercourses.
9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
10 Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries will be mine, and we will possess it’; whereas Yahweh was there;
11 therefore as I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I judge you.
12 You will know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are laid desolate. They are given to us to devour.’
13 You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me. I have heard it.”
14 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.
15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
Ezekiel 36
1 “You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear Yahweh’s word.
2 The Lord Yahweh says: “Because the enemy has said against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient high places have become our possession;’
3 therefore prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the rest of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people;”
4 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations that are around;
5 therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with contempt of soul, to cast it out for a prey.”
6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, “The Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations.’
7 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: ‘I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are around you will bear their shame.
8 “‘But you, mountains of Israel, you will shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown.
10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built.
11 I will multiply on you man and animal; and they will increase and be fruitful. I will make you inhabited as in your former times, and will do better to you than at your beginnings. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.
12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no more henceforth bereave them of children.’”
13 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’
14 therefore you will devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more,” says the Lord Yahweh.
15 “I won’t let you hear the shame of the nations any more, neither will you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither will you cause your nation to stumble any more,” says the Lord Yahweh.’”
16 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.
18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.
19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, ‘These are Yahweh’s people, and have left his land.’
21 But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
22 “Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.
23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. The nations will know that I am Yahweh,” says the Lord Yahweh, “when I am proven holy in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.
28 You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you.
30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.
31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
32 I don’t do this for your sake,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Let it be known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel.”
33 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be built.
34 The land that was desolate will be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by.
35 They will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’
36 Then the nations that are left around you will know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate. I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it.”
37 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.
38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’”
Scripture: World English Bible Classic (WEB), a public-domain translation. Available for free copying and sharing at eBible.org.
