Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep?

You eat the fat, and you clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the sheep.

The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick one you have not healed, and the broken one you have not bound up, and the one that was driven away you have not brought back, and the lost one you have not sought; but with strength and rigor you have ruled over them.

And they were scattered without a shepherd, and they became food to all the beasts of the field and were scattered.

My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill. Indeed My sheep were scattered over all the surface of the earth; not even one searched for or sought after them.

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah.

As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely inasmuch as My sheep became prey, and My sheep became food to all the beasts of the field because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My sheep;

Therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Jehovah:

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Indeed I am against the shepherds, and I will require My sheep at their hand and stop them from feeding the sheep, and the shepherds will no longer feed themselves; but I will deliver My sheep from their mouth so that they may not be food for them.

For thus says the Lord Jehovah,  ¹I Myself, even I, will search for My sheep and seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day when he is among his sheep which are scattered, so I will seek out My sheep; and I will deliver them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

And I will  ¹bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them into their own land, and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the  ²streams and in all the inhabited places of the land.

I will feed them with good pasture, and their dwelling place will be upon the mountains of the heights of Israel; there they will  ¹lie down in a good dwelling place, and on rich pasture they will feed upon the mountains of Israel.

I Myself will shepherd My flock, and I will cause them to lie down, declares the Lord Jehovah.

I will seek the lost one and bring back the one that was driven away and bind up the broken one and strengthen the sick one; but the fat one and the strong one I will destroy — I will feed them with judgment.

And as for you, O My flock, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I will  ¹judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture and trample down the rest of your pasture with your feet and drink the clear water and foul the rest with your feet?

Meanwhile My flock must feed on what is trampled by your feet and drink what is fouled by your feet.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah to them, It is I who am about to judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted all the weak with your horns until you scattered them abroad,

I will rescue My flock, and they will no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

And I will set up over them one Shepherd, My Servant  ¹David, and He will feed them; He will feed them, and He will be their Shepherd.

And I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My Servant David will be a  ¹Prince among them. I, Jehovah, have spoken.

And I will make with them a  ¹covenant of peace and banish evil beasts from the land, so that they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.

And I will make them and the places around My hill a  ¹blessing, and I will cause the showers to come down in their season; there will be showers of  ¹blessing.

And the trees of the field will yield their fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land; then they will know that I am Jehovah, when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.

And they will no longer be prey to the nations, nor will the beasts of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.

And I will raise up for them a planting place of renown, and they will no longer be consumed with famine in the land and no longer bear the disgrace of the nations.

Thus they will know that I, Jehovah their God, am  ¹with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And you are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, set your face against  ¹Mount Seir, and prophesy against it,

And say to it, Thus says the Lord Jehovah,
Indeed I am against you, O Mount Seir,
And I will stretch out My hand against you
And make you a desolation and a waste.

I will lay your cities waste,
And you will be desolate;
And you will know that I am Jehovah.

Because you have had a perpetual enmity and handed the children of Israel over to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, in the time of the punishment of the end;

Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.

Thus I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns.

And I will fill its mountains with its slain. The slain will fall by the sword in your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines.

I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited, and you will know that I am Jehovah.

Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries will belong to me, and we will possess  ¹them — even though Jehovah was there —

Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, I will deal with you according to your anger and according to your jealousy, which you displayed in your hatred of them, and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you.

And you will know that I, Jehovah, have heard all your reviling which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are desolate; they have been given to us to devour.

And you have magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.

As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolate, O Mount Seir and all Edom, the whole  ¹land. Then they will know that I am Jehovah.

And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because the enemy has said against you, Aha! Even the ancient high places have become our possession!

Therefore prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because, even because, they have desolated and crushed you from every side so that you might become the possession of the remnant of the nations, and you have been taken up in the talk of different tongues and in the whispering of people;

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus says the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the forsaken cities, which have become plunder and a mocking to the remnant of the nations which are all around;

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations and against Edom, all of whom have appointed My land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despising in their soul, for their pasture and plunder.

Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Indeed I am speaking in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have borne the disgrace of the nations.

Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah, I swear, saying, Surely the nations that surround you will bear their own disgrace.

But you, O  ¹mountains of Israel, you will shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit for My people Israel, for their coming is near.

For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be tilled and sown;

And I will multiply people upon you, the entire house of Israel, all of it! The cities will also be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt.

I will also multiply upon you man and beast, and they will increase and be fruitful, and I will make you inhabited as you were formerly, and I will make it better for you than when you began. Then you will know that I am Jehovah.

Yes, I will cause men to walk upon you, My people Israel; and they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer bereave them of children again.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Because they are saying of you, You are a land that devours men and bereaves your nation of children;

Therefore you will no longer devour men or any longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord Jehovah.

And I will no longer let you hear the disgrace of the nations nor any longer bear the reproach of the peoples, and you will no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord Jehovah.

Moreover the word of Jehovah came to me, saying,

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity.

Therefore I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood which they had poured out upon the land and because they had defiled it with their idols.

And I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their way and according to their doings I judged them.

And when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, inasmuch as it was said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and they have gone forth out of His land.

But I had regard for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for  ¹My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations will know that I am Jehovah, declares the Lord Jehovah, when I am sanctified in you in their sight.

And I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.

And I will sprinkle  ¹clean water upon you, and you will be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

I will also give you a  ¹new heart, and a  ¹new spirit I will put within you; and I will take away the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put  ¹My Spirit within you and cause you to  ²walk in My statutes, and My ordinances you shall keep and do.

And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you will be My people, and I will be your God.

And I will save you from all your uncleanness, and I will summon the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.

And I will multiply the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field, that you may no longer receive the reproach of famine among the nations.

Then you will remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

It is not for your sake that I am doing this, declares the Lord Jehovah; let it be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated on account of your ways, O house of Israel.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt.

And the land that was desolate will be tilled instead of being desolate in the sight of all who passed by.

And they will say, This land that was desolate has become like the  ¹garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.

Then the nations that are left all around you will know that I, Jehovah, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate. I, Jehovah, have spoken, and I will do it.

Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Moreover for this I will be  ¹inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.

Like the holy flock for sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they will know that I am Jehovah.