Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

1Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to [a]those shepherds, ‘This is what the Lord [b]GOD says: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been [c]feeding themselves! Should the shepherds not [d]feed the flock? 3You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep [e]without feeding the flock. 4Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you searched for the lost; but with force and with violence you have [f]dominated them. 5They scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every animal of the field and scattered. 6My flock strayed through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

7Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8“As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “certainly, because My flock has become plunder, and My flock has become food for all the animals 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, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10‘This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My [g]sheep [h]from them and make them stop tending sheep. So the shepherds will not [i]feed themselves anymore, but I will save My sheep from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

The Restoration of Israel

11For the Lord GOD says this: “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and look after them. 12As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered [j]sheep, so I will care for My [k]sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day. 13I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing place will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in a good grazing place and feed in [l]rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I Myself will feed My flock and I Myself will [m]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 fat and the strong I will eliminate. I will feed them with judgment.

17“As for you, My flock, this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Behold, I am going to judge between one [n]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. 18Is it too little a thing for you to feed in the good pasture, that you must trample with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or too little for you to drink the clear waters, that you must muddy the rest with your feet? 19But as for My flock, they must eat what you trample with your feet, and drink what you muddy with your feet!’”

20Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says to them: “Behold, I, I Myself will also judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Since you push away with your side and shoulder, and gore all the [o]weak with your horns until you have scattered them [p]abroad, 22therefore, I will save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

23“Then I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. 24And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken.

25“And I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful animals from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will make showers fall in their season; they will be showers of blessing. 27Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have saved them from the hand of those who enslaved them. 28They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the animals of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. 29I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be [q]victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore. 30Then they will know that 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 sheep, [r]the sheep of My pasture, you are mankind, and I am your God,” declares the Lord GOD.