New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1Then this message came to me from the LORD:

1The word of the LORD came to me:

2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds, the leaders of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: What sorrow awaits you shepherds who feed yourselves instead of your flocks. Shouldn’t shepherds feed their 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 drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.

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

4You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the injured. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty.

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.

5So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.

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

6They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for 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, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

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

8As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.

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,

9Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD.

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

10This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I now consider these shepherds my enemies, and I will hold them responsible for what has happened to my flock. I will take away their right to feed the flock, and I will stop them from feeding themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths; the sheep will no longer be their prey. The Good Shepherd

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“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search and find my sheep.

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

12I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock. I will find my sheep and rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

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 will bring them back home to their own land of Israel from among the peoples and nations. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel and by the rivers and in all the places where people live.

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.

14Yes, I will give them good pastureland on the high hills of Israel. There they will lie down in pleasant places and feed in the lush pastures of the hills.

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 myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace, says the Sovereign LORD.

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

16I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!

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“And as for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says to his people: I will judge between one animal of the flock and another, separating the sheep from 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.

18Isn’t it enough for you to keep the best of the pastures for yourselves? Must you also trample down the rest? Isn’t it enough for you to drink clear water for yourselves? Must you also muddy 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?

19Why must my flock eat what you have trampled down and drink water you have fouled?

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 Sovereign LORD says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.

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

21For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.

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

22So I will rescue my flock, and they will no longer be abused. I will judge between one animal of the flock and another.

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

23And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.

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.

24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among my people. I, the LORD, have spoken! The LORD’s Covenant of Peace

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 will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.

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 will bless my people and their homes around my holy hill. And in the proper season I will send the showers they need. There will be showers 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.

27The orchards and fields of my people will yield bumper crops, and everyone will live in safety. When I have broken their chains of slavery and rescued them from those who enslaved them, then they will know that I am the LORD.

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 prey for other nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will 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.

29“And I will make their land famous for its crops, so my people will never again suffer from famines or the insults of foreign nations.

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.

30In this way, they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them. And they will know that they, the people of Israel, are my people, says the Sovereign LORD.

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.

31You are my flock, the sheep of my pasture. You are my people, and I am your God. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken!”

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

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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.