Ezekiel 34:11-31

“For Lord YAHWEH says: ‘From now on, I will personally search for my sheep and look after them. As a good shepherd searches after his scattered sheep, so I will look after my sheep and rescue them from wherever they have been scattered on the day of disaster. I will bring them back from foreign countries and gather them together as my flock and return them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valley streams and in all the fertile places. I will feed them in fair meadows and on the slopes of the mountains of Israel. There they will lie down in good grazing grounds and graze in green pastures on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will give them rest. I will seek out the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the injured, and heal those that are sick. I will watch over the fat and healthy of the flock. I will be a true, caring shepherd to them. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken. “ ‘As for you, my sheep, Lord YAHWEH says to you: I am the one who judges between one sheep and the other, between rams and billy goats. Since you’re not satisfied with feeding from the best pastures, you also trample down the rest of the grass. You’re not satisfied to drink the clean water; must you also muddy up the rest of the water with your feet? Is it right that my sheep have to eat what you have walked all over? Is it right that they must drink muddy water because of your trampling feet? Therefore, Lord YAHWEH says this: I am the one who judges between the strong sheep and the weak. Because you shove with your side and your shoulder and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them, therefore, I will come and save my sheep and rescue them from being victimized. I will judge between one sheep and another. “ ‘I will raise up one shepherd over them, like my servant David, and put him in charge of my flock to feed them. He will care for them and be their shepherd. I, YAHWEH, will be their God, and my servant, like David, will be their prince taken from among them. I, YAHWEH, have spoken. I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of its wild beasts. Then they will be able to live securely in the wilderness and sleep soundly in the forest. And I will make them and the places all around my sacred hill a blessing. And I will send showers of blessing —showers will come down in their season. And the tree of the field will yield its luscious fruit, the earth will yield its harvest, and they will live safely in their own land. When I set them free from slavery and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them, then they will acknowledge that I am YAHWEH. Foreign powers will no longer plunder them; the wild beasts of the land will no longer feast on them. They will live safe and secure, with no one to frighten them. I will establish for them a planting of renown so that they will no longer suffer from famine. And they will no longer have to endure the insults of other nations. So they will know that I, YAHWEH, am with them as their God. And they, the people of Israel, will know that they are my people—declares the Lord YAHWEH. And you, my people, are my sheep, the flock of my pasture are people, and I am your God. I, Lord YAHWEH, have spoken.’ ”