| NET Bible | International Standard Version |
| 1The word of the LORD came to me: | 1A message came from the LORD for me, and it had this to say: |
| 2"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them--to the shepherds: 'This is what the sovereign LORD says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? | 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? |
| 3You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not 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! |
| 4You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. | 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. |
| 5They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. | 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! |
| 6My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them. | 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. |
| 7"'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: | 7"Therefore listen to what the LORD says, you shepherds: |
| 8As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, | 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!' |
| 9Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: | 9"Therefore, you shepherds, listen to what the LORD says: |
| 10This is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them. | 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."'" |
| 11"'For this is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. | 11"This is what the LORD says: 'Watch me! I'm going to search for my flock. I'll watch over them myself. |
| 12As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. | 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. |
| 13I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. | 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. |
| 14In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel. | 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! |
| 15I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the sovereign LORD. | 15I will feed my sheep and give them rest,' declares the Lord GOD. |
| 16I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them--with judgment! | 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.'" |
| 17"'As for you, my sheep, this is what the sovereign LORD says: Look, I am about to judge between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. | 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. |
| 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? When you drink clean water, must you muddy the rest of the water by trampling it with your feet? | 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? |
| 19As for my sheep, they must eat what you trampled with your feet, and drink what you have muddied 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!' |
| 20"'Therefore, this is what the sovereign LORD says to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. | 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, |
| 21Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad, | 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. |
| 22I will save my sheep; they will no longer be prey. I will judge between one sheep and another. | 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.'" |
| 23I will set one shepherd over them, and he will feed them--namely, my servant David. He will feed them and will be their shepherd. | 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. |
| 24I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken! | 24I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.' I, the LORD, have spoken this. |
| 25"'I will make a covenant of peace with them and will rid the land of wild beasts, so that they can live securely in the wilderness and even sleep in the woods. | 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. |
| 26I will turn them and the regions around my hill into a blessing. I will make showers come down in their season; they will be showers that bring blessing. | 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! |
| 27The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the earth will yield its crops. They will live securely on their land; they will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hand of those who enslaved them. | 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. |
| 28They will no longer be prey for the nations and the wild beasts will not devour them. They will live securely and no one will make them afraid. | 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. |
| 29I will prepare for them a healthy planting. They will no longer be victims of famine in the land and will no longer bear the insults of the nations. | 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. |
| 30Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they are my people, the house of Israel, declares the sovereign LORD. | 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. |
| 31And you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are my people, and I am your God, declares the sovereign LORD.'" | 31And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I'm pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God,' declares the Lord GOD." |
|
