International Standard Version

English Standard Version

1A message came from the LORD for me, and it had this to say:

1The word of the LORD came to me:

2"Son of Man, prophesy against Israel's shepherds. Tell those shepherds, 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep?

2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?

3You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep!

3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.

4You haven't strengthened the weak, treated the sick, set broken bones, regathered the scattered, or looked for the lost. Instead, you've dominated them with brutal force and ruthlessness.

4The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.

5"Since they have no shepherd, they have been scattered around and have become prey for all sorts of wild animals. How scattered they are!

5So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered;

6My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them.

6they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

7"Therefore listen to what the LORD says, you shepherds:

7“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

8As certainly as I'm alive and living, my sheep have truly become victims, food for all of the wild animals because there are no shepherds. My shepherds did not go searching for my flock. Instead, the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they would not feed!'

8As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep,

9"Therefore, you shepherds, listen to what the LORD says:

9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

10This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out, I'm coming after you shepherds! I'm going to demand my sheep back from them and fire them as shepherds. The shepherds won't be shepherds anymore when I snatch my flock right out of their mouths so they can't be eaten by them anymore."'"

10Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.

11"This is what the LORD says: 'Watch me! I'm going to search for my flock. I'll watch over them myself.

11“For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

12Just as a shepherd looks after his flock during the day time while he is with them, so also I'm going to watch over my sheep, delivering them from every place where they've been scattered during the times of gloom and doom.

12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

13I'm going to bring them out from foreign nations and from foreign lands. Then I'll bring them to their own land and feed them in Israel—on the mountains, in their valleys, and in all of their settlements throughout the land.

13And I 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 ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

14I'll feed them in excellent pastures, and even the very heights of Israel's mountains will serve as verdant pastures for them in which they'll rest and feed—yes, even on the fertile mountains of Israel!

14I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

15I will feed my sheep and give them rest,' declares the Lord GOD.

15I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD.

16I'm going to seek both the lost as well as the scattered, and bring them both back so their broken bones can be set and the sick can be healed. But in righteousness I'll exterminate the fat and the stiff-necked.'"

16I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

17"Now as for you, my flock, this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Watch out! I'm going to judge between one sheep and another, and between the rams and the goats.

17“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats.

18Is it such an insignificant thing to you that you're feeding in good pastures but trampling down the other pastures with your feet? Or that as you're drinking from the clear streams you're muddying the rest with your feet?

18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?

19My flock is grazing on what you've been treading down with your feet and they're drinking what you've been making muddy with your feet!'

19And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

20"Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says to them: 'Watch me! I'm going to judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep,

20“Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21since you've been bumping aside all the weaker sheep with your backsides and shoulders, butting them with your horns until they're scattered around outside.

21Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad,

22That's how I'll save my sheep so they won't be plundered any longer. I'm going to judge between one sheep and another.'"

22I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23"'Then I'll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd.

23And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

24I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.' I, the LORD, have spoken this.

24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.

25"I'm going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I'll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.

25“I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

26I'm going to make them and everything that surrounds my hill a blessing. I'll send down the rain! At the appropriate time there will be a rainstorm of blessing!

26And I will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing.

27I'll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the LORD, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them.

27And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

28They will no longer be plundered by the nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will settle down confidently, with nothing to frighten them.

28They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.

29I'm going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community.

29And I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the reproach of the nations.

30That's when they'll learn that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,' declares the Lord GOD.

30And they shall know that I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD.

31And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I'm pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God,' declares the Lord GOD."

31And you are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD.”

The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.