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Thursday, May 2nd, 2024
the Fifth Week after Easter
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Ezekiel 34

1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the sheep?3 You eat the milk, and you clothe yourselves with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don't feed the sheep.4 The diseased you have not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them.5 And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the face of the earth; and there was none that searched or sought [after them].

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:8 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely since my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn't feed my sheep;9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh:10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep; and I 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 peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.14 I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there they shall lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh.16 I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.

17 And as for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Look, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats.18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drank of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet?19 And as for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Look, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;22 therefore I will save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.23 And I will set up another shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my slave David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.24 And I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my slave David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it.25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely 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 its season; there shall be showers of blessing.27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made slaves of them.28 And they shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the beasts of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.29 And I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations anymore.30 And they shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.31 And you my sheep, the sheep of my pasture: you are man, [and] I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.

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