Ezekiel 34:1-16

The LORD Will Be Israel’s Shepherd

1 The 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 Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?

3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.

4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.

5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals.

6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,

9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:

10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

11 “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.

13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.

14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.

16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

Ezekiel 34:1-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 34

In the former chapter the prophet prophesies against the people of the Jews, both those of the captivity, and those who were not; and here against the shepherds of Israel. This he is bid to do, Eze 34:1,2, whose cruelty to the flock, negligence and unfaithfulness are exposed, Eze 34:3-6, for which reasons they are threatened to be deprived of their office, Eze 34:7-10, and the Lord promises to take the care of the flock upon himself, to seek out his sheep, and feed them, and do every kind office to them, Eze 34:11-16 and then the strong of the flock, that oppressed the weak, are threatened with punishment, Eze 34:17-22 and the promise of the Messiah, as the shepherd of the flock, is made, under whom all prosperity and happiness might be expected, Eze 34:23-31.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 78:70-72; Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 3:15; S Jeremiah 23:1; Micah 3:11; John 10:11; John 21:15-17; Jude 1:12
• 2. Isaiah 56:11; S Ezekiel 22:27; Amos 6:4; Zechariah 11:5; Zechariah 11:16
• 3. S Isaiah 3:7
• 4. S Isaiah 1:6
• 5. ver 16; S Leviticus 25:43; Micah 3:3; Zechariah 11:15-17
• 6. S Numbers 27:17
• 7. ver 28; S Isaiah 56:9; Acts 20:29
• 8. S Jeremiah 50:6
• 9. S Leviticus 26:33; S Psalms 95:10; S Jeremiah 10:21
• 10. 2 Chronicles 18:16; Psalms 142:4; Hosea 7:13; S Matthew 9:36; Matthew 18:12-13; Luke 15:5; 1 Peter 2:25
• 11. S Judges 2:14
• 12. S Isaiah 56:9
• 13. Jude 1:12
• 14. S Jeremiah 21:13
• 15. S Psalms 72:14
• 16. 1 Samuel 2:29-30; S Jeremiah 23:2; Zechariah 10:3
• 17. S Psalms 119:176
• 18. Isaiah 40:11; S Jeremiah 31:10; Zechariah 10:3; Luke 19:10
• 19. S Ezekiel 32:7; Ezekiel 30:3
• 20. S Genesis 48:21; S Deuteronomy 30:4
• 21. Micah 4:6
• 22. S Ezekiel 11:17
• 23. S Jeremiah 23:8
• 24. S Isaiah 66:20
• 25. S Ezekiel 28:25; Ezekiel 36:24
• 26. S Jeremiah 50:19
• 27. Jeremiah 23:3
• 28. S Ezekiel 20:40
• 29. Psalms 23:2; S Psalms 37:3
• 30. S Isaiah 65:10; Ezekiel 36:29-30; Ezekiel 37:22; Amos 9:14; Micah 7:14
• 31. Zephaniah 3:13
• 32. Psalms 23:1-2; S Jeremiah 33:12; Micah 5:4
• 33. S Psalms 147:3
• 34. Micah 4:6; Zephaniah 3:19
• 35. Luke 19:10
• 36. Isaiah 10:16; S Jeremiah 31:8; Luke 5:32