Ezekiel 34:11–31

The Good Shepherd

¹¹“I, the Sovereign Lord, tell you that I myself will look for my sheep and take care of them ¹²in the same way as shepherds take care of their sheep that were scattered and are brought together again. I will bring them back from all the places where they were scattered on that dark, disastrous day. ¹³I will take them out of foreign countries, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. I will lead them back to the mountains and the streams of Israel and will feed them in pleasant pastures. ¹⁴I will let them graze in safety in the mountain meadows and the valleys and in all the green pastures of the land of Israel. ¹⁵I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will find them a place to rest. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

¹⁶“I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick; but those that are fat and strong I will destroy, because I am a shepherd who does what is right.

¹⁷“Now then, my flock, I, the Sovereign Lord, tell you that I will judge each of you and separate the good from the bad, the sheep from the goats. ¹⁸Some of you are not satisfied with eating the best grass; you even trample down what you don’t eat! You drink the clear water and muddy what you don’t drink! ¹⁹My other sheep have to eat the grass you trample down and drink the water you muddy.

²⁰“So now, I, the Sovereign Lord, tell you that I will judge between you strong sheep and the weak sheep. ²¹You pushed the sick ones aside and butted them away from the flock. ²²But I will rescue my sheep and not let them be ill-treated any more. I will judge each of my sheep and separate the good from the bad. ^23*I will give them a king like my servant David to be their one shepherd, and he will take care of them. ^24*I, the Lord, will be their God, and a king like my servant David will be their ruler. I have spoken. ²⁵I will make a covenant with them that guarantees their security. I will get rid of all the dangerous animals in the land, so that my sheep can live safely in the fields and sleep in the forests.

²⁶“I will bless them and let them live round my sacred hill.^f There I will bless them with showers of rain when they need it. ²⁷The trees will bear fruit, the fields will produce crops, and everyone will live in safety on his own land. When I break my people’s chains and set them free from those who made them slaves, then they will know that I am the Lord. ²⁸The heathen nations will not plunder them any more, and the wild animals will not kill and eat them. They will live in safety, and no one will terrify them. ²⁹I will give them fertile fields and put an end to hunger in the land. The other nations will not sneer at them any more. ³⁰Everyone will know that I protect Israel and that they are my people. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

³¹“You, my sheep, the flock that I feed, are my people, and I am your God,” says the Sovereign Lord.