Ezekiel, 34

1. The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,

1. The word of the LORD came to me:

2. 'Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them, "Shepherds, the Lord Yahweh says this: Disaster is in store for the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Are not shepherds meant to feed a flock?

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

3. Yet you have fed on milk, you have dressed yourselves in wool, you have sacrificed the fattest sheep, but failed to feed the flock.

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

4. You have failed to make weak sheep strong, or to care for the sick ones, or bandage the injured ones. You have failed to bring back strays or look for the lost. On the contrary, you have ruled them cruelly and harshly.

4. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled 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. For lack of a shepherd they have been scattered, to become the prey of all the wild animals; they have been scattered.

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

6. My flock is astray on every mountain and on every high hill; my flock has been scattered all over the world; no one bothers about them and no one looks for them.

6. My sheep were scattered, they 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. "Very well, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:

7. "Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

8. As I live, I swear it -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- since my flock has been pillaged and for lack of a shepherd is now the prey of every wild animal, since my shepherds have ceased to bother about my flock, since my shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock,

8. As I live, says the Lord GOD, 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. very well, shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:

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

10. The Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I am against the shepherds. I shall take my flock out of their charge and henceforth not allow them to feed my flock. And the shepherds will stop feeding themselves, because I shall rescue my sheep from their mouths to stop them from being food for them.

10. Thus 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 the Lord Yahweh says this: Look, I myself shall take care of my flock and look after it.

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

12. As a shepherd looks after his flock when he is with his scattered sheep, so shall I look after my sheep. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of clouds and darkness.

12. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, 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.

13. I shall bring them back from the peoples where they are; I shall gather them back from the countries and bring them back to their own land. I shall pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the inhabited parts of the country.

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

14. I shall feed them in good pasturage; the highest mountains of Israel will be their grazing ground. There they will rest in good grazing grounds; they will browse in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel.

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

15. I myself shall pasture my sheep, I myself shall give them rest -- declares the Lord Yahweh.

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

16. I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured and make the sick strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them.

16. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will watch over; I will feed them in justice.

17. "As for you, my sheep, the Lord Yahweh says this: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and he-goats.

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

18. Not content to drink the clearest of the water, you foul the rest with your feet.

18. Is 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 foul the rest with your feet?

19. And my sheep must graze on what your feet have trampled and drink what your feet have fouled.

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

20. Very well, the Lord Yahweh says this: I myself shall judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

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

21. Since you have jostled with flank and shoulder and butted all the ailing sheep with your horns, until you have scattered them outside,

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

22. I shall come and save my sheep and stop them from being victimised. I shall judge between sheep and sheep.

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

23. "I shall raise up one shepherd, my servant David, and put him in charge of them to pasture them; he will pasture them and be their shepherd.

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

24. I, Yahweh, shall be their God, and my servant David will be ruler among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken.

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

25. I shall make a covenant of peace with them; I shall rid the country of wild animals. They will be able to live secure in the desert and go to sleep in the woods.

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.

26. I shall settle them round my hill; I shall send rain at the proper time; it will be a rain of blessings.

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

27. The trees of the countryside will yield their fruit and the soil will yield its produce; they will be secure on their soil. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the clutches of their slave-masters.

27. And 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.

28. No more will they be a prey to the nations, no more will the wild animals of the country devour them. They will live secure, with no one to frighten them.

28. They 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. I shall make splendid vegetation grow for them; no more will they suffer from famine in the country; no more will they have to bear the insults of other nations.

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

30. So they will know that I, their God, am with them and that they, the House of Israel, are my people -- declares the Lord Yahweh.

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

31. And you, my sheep, are the flock of my human pasture, and I am your God -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

31. And you are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, says the Lord GOD."