Ezekiel 34

1The word of the Lord came to me. He said,

2Son of man, you must prophesy against the leaders of Israel and tell them: The Lord God says: You are like bad shepherds of Israel. You care only for yourselves. Shepherds must care for the sheep and goats

3You leaders eat the fat sheep and use their wool to make clothes for yourselves. You kill the fat sheep, but you don’t feed the flock.

4You leaders did not help the weak sheep to become strong again, you did not heal the sick sheep, you did not put anything on the wounds of the sheep that were hurt, you did not bring back the sheep that were lost, and you did not go and look for the sheep that were lost. No, you ruled harshly and cruelly over them

5And now the sheep are scattered because there was no shepherd. They became food for every wild animal, so they were scattered.

6My sheeps wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep was scattered over all the face of the earth. There was no one to search or to look for them

7Leaders of Israel, listen to what the Lord says.

8The Lord God says, I swear that wild animals will catch my sheep, and my people will become food for all those animals because they did not have any real shepherds. My shepherds did not look out for my flock. They did not feed my flock. No, they only killed the sheep and fed themselves!

9You shepherds, leaders of Israel listen to the word of the Lord!

10The Lord God says, I am against the shepherds, leaders of Israel. I will demand my sheep from them. I will fire them. They will not be my shepherds anymore. Then the shepherds will not be able to feed themselves, and I will save my flock from their mouths. Then my sheep will not be food for them.

11The Lord God says: Now I will look after my sheep and take care of them and find them.

12Like a shepherd who is with his sheep when they begin to wander away, he will go searching for them. In the same way I will search for my sheep. I will save them and bring them back from all the places where they were scattered on that dark and cloudy day.

13I will bring them from among the nations, I will bring them together from the other lands and I will bring them to their own land I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the places where people live

14I will lead them to grassy fields. They will go to the high mountains of Israel and lie down on good ground and eat the grass. They will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel

15I will be the Shepherd of my sheep and I will let them lie down and rest after they have eaten. This is what the Lord God said. to be continued