Ezekiel 34:12-22

12 "¹As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will ²care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ³cloudy and gloomy day.

13 "I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ⁴feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ⁵streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

14 "I will feed them in a ⁶good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in ⁷rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.

15 "I will ⁸feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD.

16 "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the ⁹fat and the strong I will destroy. I will ¹⁰feed them with judgment.

17 "As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Behold, I will ¹¹judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

18 'Is it too ¹²slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?

19 'As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!' "

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

21 "Because you push with side and with shoulder, and ¹³thrust at all the weak with your horns until * you have scattered them abroad,

22 therefore, I will ¹⁴deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

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Images for Ezekiel 34:12-22

Ezekiel 34:12-22 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 14

1. Jeremiah 31:10
2. Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 56:8; Jeremiah 23:3; Jeremiah 31:8; Luke 19:10; John 10:16
3. Jeremiah 13:16; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 2:2
4. Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 36:29, 30; Micah 7:14
5. Isaiah 30:25
6. Psalms 23:2; Jer 31:12-14, 25; John 10:9
7. Ezekiel 28:25, 26; Ezekiel 36:29, 30
8. Psalms 23:1, 2; Ezekiel 34:23
9. Isaiah 10:16
10. Isaiah 49:26
11. Ezekiel 20:38; Ezekiel 34:20-22; Malachi 4:1; Matthew 25:32
12. Numbers 16:9, 13; 2 Samuel 7:19; Isaiah 7:13
13. Deuteronomy 33:17; Daniel 8:4; Luke 13:14-16
14. Psalms 72:12-14; Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 34:10

Footnotes 11

[a]. Or "seek(s) out"
[b]. Or "flock"
[c]. Or "seek(s) out"
[d]. Or "flock"
[e]. Lit "fat"
[f]. Lit "cause them to lie down"
[g]. Or "lamb"
[h]. Lit "foul by trampling"
[i]. Lit "foul by trampling"
[j]. Or "sick"
[k]. Lit "to the outside"