Ezekiel 34:11–31

God, the True Shepherd

¹¹‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹²As a ^qshepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on ^ra cloudy and dark day. ¹³And ^sI will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, ²in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14tI will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. ^uThere they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ^16v“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy ^wthe fat and the strong, and feed them ^xin judgment.”

¹⁷‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: ^y“Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. ¹⁸Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the ³residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

²⁰‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ^z“Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²²therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³I will establish one ^ashepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^bMy servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And ^cI, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^da prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

^25e“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and ^fcause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they ^gwill dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶I will make them and the places all around ^hMy hill ⁱa blessing; and I will ^jcause showers to come down in their season; there shall be ^kshowers of blessing. ²⁷Then ^lthe trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have ^mbroken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who ⁿenslaved them. ²⁸And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but ^othey shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹I will raise up for them a ^pgarden ⁴of renown, and they shall ^qno longer be consumed with hunger in the land, ^rnor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰Thus they shall know that ^sI, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are ^tMy people,” says the Lord God.’ ”

³¹“You are My ^uflock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.