Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

1Then the word of Yahweh came to me saying, 2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to [†]those shepherds, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been [†]shepherding themselves! Should not the shepherds shepherd the flock? 3You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you sacrifice the fat sheep without shepherding the flock. 4Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, and the [†]diseased you have not healed, and the broken you have not bound up, and the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you searched for the lost; but with strength and with severity you have dominated them. 5They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to seek or search for them.”’”

7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8“As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “surely because My flock has become plunder, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not seek for My flock, but rather the shepherds shepherded themselves and did not shepherd My flock; 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will seek My flock from their hand and make them cease from shepherding the flock. So the shepherds will not shepherd themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth so that they will not be food for them.”’”

Yahweh Will Shepherd His Flock

11For thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I Myself will seek My sheep and care for them. 12As a shepherd [†]cares for his herd in the day when he is among his [†]sheep which are spread out, so I will [†]care for My [†]sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will shepherd them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14I will shepherd them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and be shepherded in [†]rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I will shepherd My flock, and I will make them lie down,” declares Lord Yahweh. 16“I will search for the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them with judgment.

17“As for you, My flock, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will judge between one [†]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. 18Is it too slight a thing for you that you should be shepherded in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must [†]foul the rest with your feet? 19As for My flock, they must be shepherded on what you tread down with your feet and drink what you [†]foul with your feet!’”

20Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the sickly with your horns until you have scattered them [†]abroad, 22therefore, I will save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23“Then I will establish over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will shepherd them; he will shepherd them himself and be their shepherd. 24And I, Yahweh, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken.

Yahweh’s Covenant of Peace

25“I will cut a covenant of peace with them and cause harmful beasts to cease from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. 27Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them tremble. 29I will establish for them a [†]renowned planting place, and they will not again be [†]victims of famine in the land, and they will not bear the dishonor of the nations anymore. 30Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares Lord Yahweh. 31“As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares Lord Yahweh.