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Ezekiel 34

34 Yahweh gave me another message. He said, 2 “Mortal man, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, the men who should be caring for my people the way that shepherds care for their sheep. Say to these men who should be like shepherds that this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: ‘Terrible things will happen to you leaders of Israel, because you have been taking care of only yourselves! You should be like shepherds who take care of their flocks. 3 Instead, you use my people to enrich yourselves. It is as though you eat the fat of the sheep and make your clothes from their wool and slaughter the healthiest animals, but you do not take care of the flock at all. 4 It is as though you have not strengthened the weak sheep. You have not healed the sick ones. You have not bandaged the injured ones. You have not brought back the ones that became scattered. You have not searched for the ones that got lost. Instead, you have ruled my people harshly and cruelly. 5 So my people scattered, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then their enemies attacked them and plundered them, as wild animals devour sheep that have no shepherd. So they scattered more. 6 My people wander like sheep over every mountain and on every high hill. They scatter all across the land, and no one at all searches for them.

7 Therefore, you leaders who should be shepherding my people, listen to what I, Yahweh, say: 8 I swear by my own life—this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare—that enemies have carried my people away as plunder and destroyed them as wild animals devour sheep because they had no shepherd. You who should have shepherded my people did not search for them. Instead, you fed only yourselves and did not take care of my people.

9 Therefore, you leaders who should be shepherding my people, listen to what I, Yahweh, say: 10 This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: I am now the enemy of you leaders! I will demand that you give my people back to me. I will remove you from taking care of them, so that you can no longer feed only yourselves. I will rescue my people from you, and you will never again plunder and destroy them as wild animals devour sheep.

11 This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: Watch what I am about to do! I myself will search for my people, and I myself will take care of them. 12 Just as a shepherd takes care of his sheep when he is among his sheep that have scattered, so I will take care of my people. I will rescue them from every place where enemies scattered them during that terrible time. 13 I will bring my people out from the other peoples and gather them from the other lands, and I will bring them back to their own land. I will care for them like a shepherd on the mountains of Israel, alongside the streams, and in every place in the land where people live. 14 I will take care of them as a shepherd takes care of his sheep by giving them good pastures, and giving them a home on the high mountains of Israel. I will give them a good home in which to rest, and it will be as though they are feeding in rich pastures among the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will take care of my people, and I myself will enable them to rest. That is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare. 16 I will search for the ones that got lost, and I will bring back the ones that enemies chased away. I will bandage the injured ones and strengthen the sick ones. However, I will destroy the fat and strong ones. Those, I will take care of justly.

17 As for you who are like my flock of sheep, this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say: I am about to judge between each of you who are like sheep, and between each of you who are like rams and male goats. 18 You powerful ones are like strong animals that should be satisfied with feeding on the good pasture; and yet you also trample down the rest of the pasture with your feet. You should be satisfied with drinking the clear water; and yet you also muddy the rest of the water with your feet. 19 So it is as though the rest of my people are like the flock that must feed on the grass that you trampled and drink the water that you muddied.

20 Therefore, this is what I, the Lord Yahweh, say to my flock: I myself am the one who is about to judge between those of you who are strong like fat sheep and those of you who are weak like thin sheep. 21 It is as though you are the powerful sheep who shove the weak sheep aside with your sides and your shoulders and gore all of them with your horns, until you have driven them away from the pasture. 22 I will rescue my people, and no one will ever plunder them again. I will judge between each one of my people. 23 I will appoint over them one leader who will care for them the way that a shepherd cares for his flock. He will be a descendant of my servant David. He himself will take care of my people, and he himself will be as their shepherd. 24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and that descendant of my servant David will be the ruler among them. This will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said this.

25 I will promise my people that they will live peacefully. I will remove every kind of dangerous animal from the land, so that my people can live safely even in the wilderness and sleep safely even in the forests. 26 I will bless my people and all of the land around my sacred hill. I will send rain at the proper times, and by that rain I will bless them. 27 The trees in the fields will produce their fruit, and the ground will produce its crops, and my people will live safely in their land. When I rescue them from the people who have caused them to be slaves, they will know that I, Yahweh, have done this for them. 28 The people of other nations will never plunder them again, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live safely, and there will be no one to frighten them. 29 I will make them famous for how securely I establish them in the land. They will never again need to leave the land because they lack food, and people of other nations will never again humiliate them. 30 Then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them, and that they, the people of Israel, are my people. This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare. 31 You are my people, like a flock of sheep that I take care of in my own pasture. You are human beings, and I am your God. This is what I, the Lord Yahweh, declare.’ ”

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