¹ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD to the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe yourselves with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

⁴ The diseased ye have not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

⁵ And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became food to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yes, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek for them.

⁷ Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

⁸ As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

⁹ Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I even I, will both search for my sheep, and seek them out.

¹² As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and 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 people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.

¹⁶ I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ And as for you, O my flock, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he-goats.

¹⁸ Seemeth it a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drank of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?

¹⁹ And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.

²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD to them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

²¹ Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad;

²² Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.

²³ And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

²⁴ And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

²⁵ And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

²⁶ And I will make them and the places around 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 her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that subjected them to service.

²⁸ And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more.

³⁰ Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the LORD God.

³¹ And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.

¹ Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

² Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.

³ Thus saith the LORD; I have returned to Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

⁴ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.

⁵ And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

⁶ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it is marvelous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous in my eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.

⁷ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;

⁸ And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.

⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who were in the day when the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.

¹⁰ For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbor.

¹¹ But now I will not be to the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.

¹² For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

¹³ And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, let your hands be strong.

¹⁴ For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not;

¹⁵ So again have I thought in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.

¹⁶ These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:

¹⁷ And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.

¹⁸ And the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

¹⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.

²⁰ Thus saith the LORD of hosts: It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:

²¹ And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.

²² And many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.

²³ Thus saith the LORD of hosts: In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men out of all languages of the nations, shall take hold, shall even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.