Passage Viewer

The Shepherds of Israel

The word of the Lord came to me with these words:

“Son of man, speak on my behalf against the shepherds of Israel! Say to the shepherds on my behalf: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?

But you feed on milk and wear wool, and you slaughter the fattest sheep. You haven’t taken care of the flock;

you haven’t strengthened the weak, cared for the sick, or bandaged the injured. You haven’t searched for the sheep that strayed or looked for the one that was lost. Instead, you ruled over them harshly and oppressed them.

They have scattered because of a lack of a shepherd and have become prey for wild animals.

My sheep wander over the mountains and high hills; when they are scattered across the land,no one cares about them or looks for them.

Hear, then, shepherds, what the Lord says:

As I live—word of the Lord—because my sheep have been prey for wild animals and have become their food due to a lack of shepherds, because the shepherds have not cared for my sheep.

After all, you, shepherds, have not bothered about them but fed yourselves instead of the flock, hear the word of the Lord.

This is what the Lord says: I will hold the shepherds accountable and reclaim my sheep from them. They will no longer tend my flock, nor will there be shepherdswho feed only themselves. I will rescue the flock from their mouths; they will no longerbe food for them.

Indeed, the Lord declares this: I, myself, will care for my sheep and watch over them.