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word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding only themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 You eat the fat, clothe yourselves with the wool, and you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not tend the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, or healed the sick, or bandaged the injured; nor have you brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with harshness and cruelty. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts when they were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, with no one to search or look for them”.
7 ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 “As I live”, says the Lord God, “because My flock has been plundered and become food for all the wild beasts, since they lack anyone to tend them, for My shepherds did not search for My flock, but the shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed My flock,”, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! 10 This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will demand a reckoning for My flock from them, and remove them from tending the flock. Then the shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue My flock from their mouths, so that they may no longer be food for them”.
11 ‘For this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will seek out My flock. I will deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the inhabited places of the land. 14 I will tend them in a place of good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in a place of good grazing, and they will feed in rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. 15 I Myself will tend My flock, and I will have them lie down”, says the Lord God. 16 “I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice”.
17 ‘As for you, My flock, this is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to judge between sheep and sheep, and between rams and goats. 18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? And is it not enough for you to drink the clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19 Why must My flock feed on what your feet have trampled, and drink what your feet have muddied?”
20 ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the feeble sheep with your horns until you scattered them abroad, 22 I will save My flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will appoint a single shepherd over them, My servant David. He will tend them himself and be their shepherd. 24 I, the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
25 “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate the wild beasts from the land, so that they may live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woodlands. 26 I will make them and the region around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in their season, and there will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the ground will yield its produce, and My people will dwell safely in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslave them. 28 They will no longer be plunder for the nations, nor will the wild beasts devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29 I will establish for them a land renowned for its abundant produce. No longer will they be consumed by famine in the land or be forced to endure the scorn of the nations. 30 Then they will 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 ‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, and I am your God’, says the Lord God.”