Ezekiel 34:3-13

3 "You ¹eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you ²slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.

4 "Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, ³the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you ⁴sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

5 "They were ⁵scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became ⁶food for every beast of the field and were scattered.

6 "My flock ⁷wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; ⁸My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was ⁹no one to search or seek for them.""'

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

8 "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "surely * because My flock has become a ¹⁰prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

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

10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am ¹¹against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them ¹²cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore, but I will ¹³deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.""'

The Restoration of Israel

11 For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will ¹⁴search for My sheep and seek them out.

12 "¹⁵As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will ¹⁶care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ¹⁷cloudy 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 ¹⁸feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ¹⁹streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land.

Read Chapter Compare

Images for Ezekiel 34:3-13

Ezekiel 34:3-13 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 19

1. Zechariah 11:16
2. Ezekiel 22:25, 27
3. Zechariah 11:16
4. Matthew 9:36; Matthew 10:6; Matthew 18:12, 13; Luke 15:4
5. Numbers 27:17; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Jeremiah 10:21; Jeremiah 23:2; Jeremiah 50:6, 7; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34
6. Ezekiel 34:8, 28
7. Jeremiah 40:11, 12; Ezekiel 7:16; 1 Peter 2:25
8. John 10:16
9. Psalms 142:4
10. Acts 20:29
11. Jeremiah 21:13; Ezekiel 5:8; Ezekiel 13:8; Ezekiel 34:2; Zechariah 10:3
12. 1 Samuel 2:29, 30; Jeremiah 52:24-27
13. Psalms 72:12-14; Ezekiel 13:23
14. Ezekiel 11:17; Ezekiel 20:41
15. Jeremiah 31:10
16. Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 56:8; Jeremiah 23:3; Jeremiah 31:8; Luke 19:10; John 10:16
17. Jeremiah 13:16; Ezekiel 30:3; Joel 2:2
18. Ezekiel 34:23; Ezekiel 36:29, 30; Micah 7:14
19. Isaiah 30:25

Footnotes 10

[a]. Lit "pasturing"
[b]. Lit "sick"
[c]. Or (a) "flock"
[d]. Lit "from their hand"
[e]. Or (a) "flock"
[f]. Lit "pasture," and so throughout the ch
[g]. Or "seek(s) out"
[h]. Or "flock"
[i]. Or "seek(s) out"
[j]. Or "flock"