Ezekiel 34:17-31

17 "As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: ¹Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and ²male goats.

18 Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of ³clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?

19 And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have muddied with your feet?

20 "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21 Because you push with side and shoulder, and ⁴thrust at all the ⁵weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad,

22 I will rescue^[a] my flock; ⁶they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep.

23 And ⁷I will set up over them one shepherd, ⁸my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.

24 And ⁹I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ¹⁰I am the LORD; I have spoken.

The Lord's Covenant of Peace

25 ¹¹"I will make with them a covenant of peace and ¹²banish wild beasts from the land, ¹³so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

26 And I will make them and the places all around my hill ¹⁴a blessing, and ¹⁵I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be ¹⁶showers of blessing.

27 ¹⁷And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, ¹⁸and they shall be secure in their land. And ¹⁹they shall know that I am the LORD, when ²⁰I break the bars of their yoke, and ²¹deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

28 ²²They shall no more be a prey to the nations, ²³nor shall the beasts of the land devour them. ²⁴They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.

29 And I will provide for them ²⁵renowned plantations so that ²⁶they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer ²⁷suffer the reproach of the nations.

30 And they shall know that ²⁸I am the LORD their God with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Lord GOD.

31 And you are my sheep, ²⁹human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Lord GOD."

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Ezekiel 34:17-31 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 29

1. ver. 20, 22; [Ezekiel 20:38; Matthew 25:32, 33]
2. Zechariah 10:3
3. [Ezekiel 32:14]
4. Deuteronomy 33:17; Daniel 8:4
5. [ver. 4]
6. [ver. 8]
7. Ezekiel 37:22, 24; Jeremiah 23:4, 5; Micah 5:4; Micah 7:14; [ver. 15; John 10:11, 16]
8. Ezekiel 37:24, 25; [2 Samuel 5:2; Psalms 78:71, 72]
9. See Ezekiel 37:27; Exodus 29:45; Leviticus 26:12
10. See Ezekiel 17:24
11. Ezekiel 37:26; See Isaiah 54:10
12. Leviticus 26:6; Hosea 2:18; [Isaiah 35:9]; See Isaiah 11:6-9
13. Ezekiel 38:8, 14; Ezekiel 39:26
14. Genesis 12:2; Isaiah 19:24; Zechariah 8:13
15. Leviticus 26:4; [Ezekiel 22:24]
16. Malachi 3:10
17. Ezekiel 36:30; Leviticus 26:4
18. [See ver. 25 above]
19. See Ezekiel 6:7
20. Jeremiah 30:8
21. Jeremiah 30:8
22. [See ver. 22 above]
23. [See ver. 25 above]
24. [See ver. 25 above]
25. Isaiah 60:21; Isaiah 61:3
26. Ezekiel 36:29
27. See Ezekiel 32:24
28. [See ver. 24 above]
29. Psalms 74:1; Psalms 100:3; John 10:16

Footnotes 1

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The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.