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1 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

7 Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

8 As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

9 Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

10 Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

11 For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

13 And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

15 I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.

16 I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

17 And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.

18 Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

19 And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

21 Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

22 Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

24 And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.

25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

28 And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

29 And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

30 Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God.

31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.

<html><b>concerning the shepherds of Israel</b> concerning the leaders of Israel. <b>who were shepherding themselves</b> [Heb. אוֹתָם,] them. They enjoyed themselves with the money of their fellows who were under them. <b>Do not the shepherds shepherd the flocks</b> It is not the custom of shepherds to shepherd the flocks and not to shepherd themselves?</html>

<html><b>The frail</b> [Heb. הַנַחְלוֹת,] those emaciated without strength, maigre in French, lean, which need strengthening, to support them with the hand. <b>you did not bind</b> to bind the fragments of the bone, one with the other, as is the practice of the physicians. <b>those astray</b> who strayed from the midst of the flock, to the outside. <b>you chastised</b> [Heb. רְדִיתֶם,] chastised.</html>

<html><b>My flock strayed</b> They wander astray over the face of all the mountains; i.e., they are going free for anyone to do to them as he wishes, and you did not reprove them and did not judge between a man and his fellow.</html>

<html><b>and the shepherds shepherded themselves</b> [Heb. אוֹתָם, lit. them.]</html>

<html><b>and the shepherds will no longer shepherd themselves</b> [Heb. אוֹתָם,] themselves.</html>

<html><b>and I shall seek them out</b> [Heb. וּבִקַרְתִּים,] in the sense of visiting (בִּיקוּר) the sick.</html>

<html><b>separated</b> when they are scattered, and he walks among them and gathers them back together. <b>on a cloudy and dark day</b> for it is usual for the flocks to scatter on a cloudy day.</html>

<html><b>the fat and the strong I will destroy</b> who pushes and presses her fellows.</html>

<html><b>between one lamb and another</b> between the strong, violent men and the weak ones.</html>

<html><b>Is it little for you</b> that the strongest among you graze on the good pasture? If only you would not [also] tread the residues with your feet, and would let the rest of My flock eat them! But even the residue of your pasture you tread with your feet! And is it not enough for you that you drink the clear water, that you must tread the remainder with your feet? <b>the clear water</b> [Heb. וּמִשְּׁקַע מַיִם,] lit. sunken water, the clear water, whose mud sank. It was not made murky with [the movement of] the feet. The symbolic meaning is as stated by the Targum: Is it little for you that [you] feed yourself the best food, and your attendants must eat the residue of your food? And [that] you drink the best, and your attendants must drink the residue?</html>

<html><b>And my flocks, etc.</b> And My people eat the residue of the food of your attendants and drink the residue of the drink of your attendants.</html>

<html><b>a strong lamb</b> [Heb. בְרִיָה,] strong. <b>lean</b> [Heb. רָזָה,] maigre in French.</html>

<html><b>My servant David</b> A king [who will come] from his descendants.</html>

<html><b>and grow old in the forests</b> [Heb. וְיָשְּׁנוּ.] Jonathan renders: and they will age [from יָשָׁן] in the forest. It may also be interpreted as an expression of sleep (שִּׁינָה).</html>

<html><b>And I shall make them dwell around My hill</b> [Heb. וְנָתַתִּי.] Their dwelling shall be blissful. וְנָתַתִּי, and I shall place, is like וְהִשְּׁכַּנְתִי and I shall cause to dwell.</html>

<html><b>a plantation for renown</b> an existence that will obtain everlasting fame. <b>hidden because of hunger</b> hidden because of hunger, because of the disgrace of hunger and poverty.</html>

<html><b>you are man</b> You are not like animals in My eyes.</html>