Ezekiel 34 - New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995)

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(A)shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[a]those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[b]God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[c](B)feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds ^[d](C)feed the flock? ³ You ^(D)eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you ^(E)slaughter the fat sheep without ^[e]feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the ^[f]diseased you have not healed, ^(F)the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you ^(G)sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. ⁵ They were ^(H)scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became ^(I)food for every beast of the field and were scattered. ⁶ My flock ^(J)wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; ^(K)My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was ^(L)no one to search or seek for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a ^(M)prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am ^(N)against the shepherds, and I will demand My ^[g]sheep ^[h]from them and make them ^(O)cease from feeding ^[i]sheep. So the shepherds will not ^[j]feed themselves anymore, but I will ^(P)deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will ^(Q)search for My sheep and seek them out. ^{12 (R)}As a shepherd ^[k]cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered ^[l]sheep, so I will ^[m](S)care for My ^[n]sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ^(T)cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ^(U)feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ^(V)streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a ^(W)good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in ^[o](X)rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will ^(Y)feed My flock and I will ^[p]lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the ^(Z)fat and the strong I will destroy. I will ^(AA)feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will ^(AB)judge between one ^[q]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it too ^(AC)slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must ^[r]foul the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you ^[s]foul with your feet!’”

²⁰ Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and with shoulder, and ^(AD)thrust at all the ^[t]weak with your horns until you have scattered them ^[u]abroad, ²² therefore, I will ^(AE)deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will ^(AF)set over them one ^(AG)shepherd, My servant ^(AH)David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant ^(AI)David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “I will make a ^(AJ)covenant of peace with them and ^(AK)eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may ^(AL)live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places around My hill a ^(AM)blessing. And I will cause ^(AN)showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of ^(AO)blessing. ²⁷ Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be ^(AP)secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(AQ)broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will ^(AR)live securely, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will establish for them a ^(AS)renowned planting place, and they will ^(AT)not again be ^[v]victims of famine in the land, and they will not ^(AU)endure the insults of the nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that ^(AV)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God. ³¹ “As for you, My ^(AW)sheep, the ^(AX)sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.

Footnotes

1. Ezekiel 34:2 Lit them, the shepherds
2. Ezekiel 34:2 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord, and so throughout the ch
3. Ezekiel 34:2 Lit pasturing, pasture
4. Ezekiel 34:2 Lit pasturing, pasture
5. Ezekiel 34:3 Lit pasturing
6. Ezekiel 34:4 Lit sick
7. Ezekiel 34:10 Or (a) flock
8. Ezekiel 34:10 Lit from their hand
9. Ezekiel 34:10 Or (a) flock
10. Ezekiel 34:10 Lit pasture, and so throughout the ch
11. Ezekiel 34:12 Or seek(s) out
12. Ezekiel 34:12 Or flock
13. Ezekiel 34:12 Or seek(s) out
14. Ezekiel 34:12 Or flock
15. Ezekiel 34:14 Lit fat
16. Ezekiel 34:15 Lit cause them to lie down
17. Ezekiel 34:17 Or lamb
18. Ezekiel 34:18 Lit foul by trampling
19. Ezekiel 34:19 Lit foul by trampling
20. Ezekiel 34:21 Or sick
21. Ezekiel 34:21 Lit to the outside
22. Ezekiel 34:29 Lit those gathered

Cross references

1. Ezekiel 34:2 : Jer 2:8; 3:15; 10:21; 12:10
2. Ezekiel 34:2 : Jer 23:1; Ezek 22:25; 34:8-10; Mic 3:1-3, 11
3. Ezekiel 34:2 : Ps 78:71, 72; Is 40:11; Ezek 34:14, 15; John 10:11; 21:15-17
4. Ezekiel 34:3 : Zech 11:16
5. Ezekiel 34:3 : Ezek 22:25, 27
6. Ezekiel 34:4 : Zech 11:16
7. Ezekiel 34:4 : Matt 9:36; 10:6; 18:12, 13; Luke 15:4
8. Ezekiel 34:5 : Num 27:17; 2 Chr 18:16; Jer 10:21; 23:2; 50:6, 7; Matt 9:36; Mark 6:34
9. Ezekiel 34:5 : Ezek 34:8, 28
10. Ezekiel 34:6 : Jer 40:11, 12; Ezek 7:16; 1 Pet 2:25
11. Ezekiel 34:6 : John 10:16
12. Ezekiel 34:6 : Ps 142:4
13. Ezekiel 34:8 : Acts 20:29
14. Ezekiel 34:10 : Jer 21:13; Ezek 5:8; 13:8; 34:2; Zech 10:3
15. Ezekiel 34:10 : 1 Sam 2:29, 30; Jer 52:24-27
16. Ezekiel 34:10 : Ps 72:12-14; Ezek 13:23
17. Ezekiel 34:11 : Ezek 11:17; 20:41
18. Ezekiel 34:12 : Jer 31:10
19. Ezekiel 34:12 : Is 40:11; 56:8; Jer 23:3; 31:8; Luke 19:10; John 10:16
20. Ezekiel 34:12 : Jer 13:16; Ezek 30:3; Joel 2:2
21. Ezekiel 34:13 : Ezek 34:23; 36:29, 30; Mic 7:14
22. Ezekiel 34:13 : Is 30:25
23. Ezekiel 34:14 : Ps 23:2; Jer 31:12-14, 25; John 10:9
24. Ezekiel 34:14 : Ezek 28:25, 26; 36:29, 30
25. Ezekiel 34:15 : Ps 23:1, 2; Ezek 34:23
26. Ezekiel 34:16 : Is 10:16
27. Ezekiel 34:16 : Is 49:26
28. Ezekiel 34:17 : Ezek 20:38; 34:20-22; Mal 4:1; Matt 25:32
29. Ezekiel 34:18 : Num 16:9, 13; 2 Sam 7:19; Is 7:13
30. Ezekiel 34:21 : Deut 33:17; Dan 8:4; Luke 13:14-16
31. Ezekiel 34:22 : Ps 72:12-14; Jer 23:3; Ezek 34:10
32. Ezekiel 34:23 : Rev 7:17
33. Ezekiel 34:23 : Is 40:11; John 10:11
34. Ezekiel 34:23 : Jer 30:9; Ezek 37:24
35. Ezekiel 34:24 : Is 55:3; Jer 30:9; Ezek 37:24, 25; Hos 3:5
36. Ezekiel 34:25 : Ezek 16:60; 20:37; 37:26
37. Ezekiel 34:25 : Job 5:22, 23; Is 11:6-9
38. Ezekiel 34:25 : Jer 33:16; Ezek 28:26; 34:27, 28
39. Ezekiel 34:26 : Gen 12:2; Ezek 34:14
40. Ezekiel 34:26 : Deut 11:13-15; 28:12
41. Ezekiel 34:26 : Lev 25:21; Is 44:3
42. Ezekiel 34:27 : Ezek 38:8, 11
43. Ezekiel 34:27 : Lev 26:13; Is 52:2, 3; Jer 30:8
44. Ezekiel 34:28 : Jer 30:10; Ezek 39:26
45. Ezekiel 34:29 : Is 4:2; 60:21; 61:3
46. Ezekiel 34:29 : Ezek 34:26, 27; 36:29
47. Ezekiel 34:29 : Ezek 36:6, 15
48. Ezekiel 34:30 : Ps 46:7, 11; Ezek 14:11; 36:28
49. Ezekiel 34:31 : Ps 78:52; 80:1; Ezek 36:38
50. Ezekiel 34:31 : Ps 100:3; Jer 23:1