| Chapter
34 |
| 1 | And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| 2 | Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,
prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be
to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds
feed the flocks? |
| 3 | Ye eat
the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye
feed not the flock. |
| 4 | The
diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick,
neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again
that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but
with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. |
|
5 | And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd:
and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were
scattered. |
| 6 | My sheep
wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was
scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after
them. |
| 7 | Therefore, ye
shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; |
|
8 | As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a
prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was
no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds
fed themselves, and fed not my flock; |
|
9 | Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; |
| 10 | Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand,
and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds
feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that
they may not be meat for them. |
| 11
| For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my
sheep, and seek them out. |
| 12 |
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep
that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. |
| 13 | And I will bring them out from
the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their
own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all
the inhabited places of the country. |
|
14 | I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains
of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a
fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. |
| 15 | I will feed my flock, and I will cause
them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD. |
| 16 | I will seek that which was lost, and bring again 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 with judgment. |
| 17
| And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge
between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. |
| 18 | Seemeth it a small thing unto you to
have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the
residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must
foul the residue with your feet? |
|
19 | And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with
your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. |
| 20 | Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between
the lean cattle. |
| 21 |
Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased
with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; |
| 22 | Therefore will I save my flock, and
they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. |
| 23 | And I will set up one
shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall
feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. |
| 24 | And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David
a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. |
|
25 | And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and
will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell
safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. |
|
26 | And I will make them and the places round about
my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season;
there shall be showers of blessing. |
|
27 | And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth
shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know
that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered
them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. |
| 28 | And they shall no more be a prey to
the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall
dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. |
|
29 | And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and
they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame
of the heathen any more. |
| 30 |
Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they,
even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. |
| 31 | And ye my flock, the flock of my
pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD. |
