Ezekiel 34 And the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you kill the fat ones, but you do not feed the flock.
You have not made the weak strong, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound up the broken. You have not brought again those driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled them with force and with cruelty.
And they were scattered for lack of a shepherd. And they became food to all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yea, My flock was scattered on all the face of the earth, and none searched nor sought for them.
Therefore, shepherds, hear the Word of Jehovah:
As I live, says the Lord Jehovah, surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the Word of Jehovah.
So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Nor shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouth, and they will not be food to devour.
For so says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.
a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the lands, and will bring them to their own land and feed them on the mountain of Israel by the rivers, and in all the places of the land where people live.
I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.
I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Jehovah.
I will seek the lost, and bring again those driven away, and will bind up the broken, and will strengthen the sick. But I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
And you, My flock, says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I judge between lamb and lamb, between rams and he-goats.
Is it a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must trample the rest of your pastures with your feet? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the rest with your feet?
And My flock, they eat what your feet have trampled, and they drink what your feet have fouled.
So the Lord Jehovah says this to them: Behold I Myself will even judge between the fat lamb and the lean lamb.
Because you have thrust with side and with shoulder, and have pushed all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them to the outside, therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between lamb and lamb.
And I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David. He shall feed them, and He shall be their Shepherd.
And I Jehovah will be their God, and My servant David a ruler among them. I Jehovah have spoken.
And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and will send the evil beasts out of the land. And they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
And I will make them, and the places around My hill, a blessing; and I will bring down the shower in its season. There shall be showers of blessing.
And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. And they shall be safe in their land, and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hands of those who enslaved them.
And no more shall they be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beast of the land eat them. But they shall dwell safely, and none shall terrify them.
And I will raise up for them a noted planting place, and they shall never again be of those gathered by famine in the land, nor shall they bear the shame of the nations any more.
And they shall know that I, Jehovah their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are My people, says the Lord Jehovah.
And you My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Jehovah.
Matthew 12:11-12 And He said to them, What man among you will be, who will have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the sabbaths, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out?
How much better is a man then than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.
Bringing back the lost sheep.
Matthew 18:11-14 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, does he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains and seek the straying one?
And if it happens that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety and nine which did not stray.
so it is not the will of your Father in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
A sheepfold
John 10:1-18 Truly, truly I tell you, the person who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a bandit.
The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
It is to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it is his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.
They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.
Jesus used this illustration with them, but they didn't understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said, Truly, truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, deserts the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
For he is a hired hand, and the sheep do not matter to him.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must lead these also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it back again.
No one is taking it from me; I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is a command that I have received from my Father.
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