34

Irresponsible Shepherds

¹And 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 says the Lord God to the shepherds: ⚓“Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ³⚓You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you ⚓slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. ⁴⚓The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor ⚓sought what was lost; but with ⚓force and cruelty you have ruled them. ⁵⚓So they were ⚓scattered because there was no shepherd; ⚓and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. ⁶My sheep ⚓wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”
⁷‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸“As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock ⚓became food for 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”— ⁹therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am⚓against the shepherds, and ⚓I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall ⚓feed themselves no more; for I will ⚓deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

God, the True Shepherd

¹¹‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹²As a ⚓shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on ⚓a cloudy and dark day. ¹³And ⚓I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴⚓I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. ⚓There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ¹⁶⚓“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy ⚓the fat and the strong, and feed them ⚓in judgment.”
¹⁷‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: ⚓“Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. ¹⁸Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”
²⁰‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ⚓“Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²²therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³I will establish one ⚓shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—⚓My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And ⚓I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ⚓a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
²⁵⚓“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and ⚓cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they ⚓will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶I will make them and the places all around ⚓My hill ⚓a blessing; and I will ⚓cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be ⚓showers of blessing. ²⁷Then ⚓the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have ⚓broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who ⚓enslaved them. ²⁸And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but ⚓they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹I will raise up for them a ⚓garden of renown, and they shall ⚓no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, ⚓nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰Thus they shall know that ⚓I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are⚓My people,” says the Lord God.’
³¹“You are My ⚓flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

34

Yixayee cov yug yaj

¹Yawmsaub hais lus tuaj rau kuv tias, ²“Neeg tus tub, cia li cev kuv li lus tawm tsam Yixayee cov yug yaj, cia li cev kuv li lus thiab hais rau lawv tias, ‘Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no tias, Cov yug yaj hauv Yixayee uas nws yug nws tus kheej xwb yuav raug txom nyem lauj! Cov uas yug yaj yeej yuav tsum yug yaj los tsis yog? ³Nej noj yaj tej roj thiab hnav yaj tej plaub, nej tua tej yaj rog rog, tiamsis nej twb tsis yug pab yaj ntawd. ⁴Tus uas tsaug leeg nej twb tsis txhawb nws lub zog, tus uas mob nej kuj tsis kho, tus uas pob txha lov nej kuj tsis muab ntaub qhwv, tus uas yuam kev mus lawm nej kuj tsis mus coj rov los, tus uas ploj lawm nej kuj tsis mus nrhiav. Nej kav lawv quab yuam lawv ua nruj ua tsiv rau lawv. ⁵Ua li no lawv thiaj khiav ri sua tag vim yog tsis muaj ib tug yug yaj. Lawv khiav ua sab ua sua, tej tsiaj nyaum huvsi thiaj muab lawv noj. ⁶Kuv cov yaj tawg khiav mus mus los los rau saum txhua lub roob thiab saum txhua lub pov roob siab. Kuv cov yaj khiav ri sua mus thoob qab ntuj, tsis muaj leejtwg mus cuab mus nrhiav.
⁷“ ‘Vim li no, nej cov uas yug yaj, cia li mloog Yawmsaub tej lus, ⁸Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais tias, kuv yeej muaj txojsia nyob, kuv cov yaj tau raug muab txeeb lawm thiab kuv cov yaj raug muab tso rau tsiaj nyaum huvsi noj vim tsis muaj ib tug yug yaj, thiab kuv cov uas yug yaj tsis mus nrhiav kuv cov yaj, lawv yug lawv xwb tsis yug kuv cov yaj. ⁹Vim li no, nej cov uas yug yaj, cia li mloog Yawmsaub tej lus. ¹⁰Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no tias, Saib maj, kuv tawm tsam cov uas yug yaj thiab kuv yuav rho kuv cov yaj hauv lawv txhais tes los, thiab txwv tsis pub lawv yug yaj lawm. Cov uas yug yaj yuav tsis tau yug lawv dua li lawm. Kuv yuav cawm kuv cov yaj dim ntawm lawv lub qhov ncauj, kom lawv thiaj tsis tau noj kuv cov yaj.
¹¹“ ‘Rau qhov Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no tias, Saib maj, kuv, yog kuv ntag, uas yuav mus cuab kuv cov yaj thiab mus nrhiav lawv. ¹²Ib yam li tus yug yaj mus nrhiav nws pab yaj rau thaum nws nyob hauv nruab nrab nws pab yaj uas tawg ri sua lawm, kuv yuav nrhiav kuv cov yaj ib yam li ntawd. Kuv yuav cawm lawv dim hauv txhua lub chaw uas lawv khiav ri sua mus rau hnub uas muaj huab thiab tsaus ntuj nti. ¹³Kuv yuav coj lawv tawm hauv txhua haiv neeg los thiab qaws lawv tawm hauv luag tej tebchaws los, thiab kuv yuav coj lawv los rau hauv lawv lub tebchaws. Thiab kuv yuav yug lawv saum Yixayee tej roob, thiab ntawm tej ntug dej thiab ntawm txhua lub chaw uas muaj neeg nyob hauv lub tebchaws. ¹⁴Kuv yuav yug lawv hauv lub tshav zaub uas zoo zoo, thiab lawv tej tshav zaub yog Yixayee tej roob siab. Qhov chaw ntawd lawv yuav pw hauv tej chaw uas muaj zaub zoo zoo, thiab lawv yuav nrhiav noj hauv tej tshav zaub mos mos saum Yixayee tej roob. ¹⁵Kuv yuav ua tus uas yug kuv cov yaj ntag, thiab kuv yuav cia lawv pw. Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no. ¹⁶Kuv yuav mus nrhiav tus yaj uas ploj, thiab coj tus yuam kev rov los, thiab kuv muab ntaub qhwv tus uas pob txha lov. Kuv yuav txhawb zog rau tus uas tsaug leeg, tiamsis tus uas rog thiab muaj zog kuv yuav muab ua kom puam tsuaj. Kuv yuav ua ncaj ua ncees yug lawv.
¹⁷“ ‘Nej cov uas yog kuv pab yaj pab tshis mas Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no rau nej tias, Saib maj, kuv yuav txiav txim rau kuv cov maum yaj ib tug zuj zus thiab txiav txim rau tej txiv tshis txiv yaj. ¹⁸Qhov uas nej noj zaub hauv lub tshav zaub uas zoo tsis txaus lov? Nej tseem tsuj pes ntiag tej zaub uas tseem tshuav hauv nej lub tshav. Nej haus dej ntshiab tsis txaus lov? Nej tseem xuas kotaw do tej dej uas tseem tshuav nro tag. ¹⁹Kuv cov yaj yuav noj tej uas nej kotaw tsuj thiab haus tej dej uas nej kotaw ua nro tag lov?
²⁰“ ‘Vim li no Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no rau lawv tias, Saib maj, kuv, yog kuv ntag uas yuav tu plaub rau cov yaj uas rog thiab cov uas yuag. ²¹Vim nej muab xub pwg thiab phab tav xyeeb tus uas tsis muaj zog, thiab xuas nej tej kub xyob lawv, ua rau lawv khiav ri sua mus, ²²kuv yuav cawm kuv pab yaj pab tshis kom dim, lawv yuav tsis raug luag lws dua li lawm, kuv yuav txiav txim rau cov yaj ib tug zuj zus. ²³Kuv yuav tsa ib tug yug yaj xwb ua tus uas yug lawv, yog kuv tus qhev Davi,⚓ mas nws yuav yug lawv. Nws yuav yug lawv thiab ua lawv tus yug yaj. ²⁴Thiab kuv uas yog Yawmsaub yuav ua lawv tus Vajtswv, thiab kuv tus qhev Davi yuav ua lawv tus thawj. Kuv yog Yawmsaub tau hais cia li no lawm ntag.
²⁵“ ‘Kuv yuav nrog lawv sib cog lus kom muaj kev thaj yeeb thiab yuav ntiab tej tsiaj nyaum tawm hauv lub tebchaws, xwv lawv thiaj tau nyob hauv tebchaws moj sab qhua thiab pw hauv tej hav zoov tso siab plhuav. ²⁶Kuv yuav ua rau lawv thiab tej chaw uas nyob ib ncig kuv lub roob ua lub chaw uas muaj koob hmoov rau luag. Kuv yuav tso nag los raws lub caij lub nyoog, thiab yuav los tsheej kob uas muaj koob hmoov. ²⁷Tej txiv ntoo hauv teb yuav txi txiv, thiab tej av yuav zoo qoob loo. Lawv yuav nyob tso siab plhuav hauv lawv lub tebchaws. Mas lawv yuav paub tias kuv yog Yawmsaub rau thaum kuv muab lawv tus quab lov thiab cawm lawv dim hauv cov uas muab lawv ua qhev txhais tes. ²⁸Lawv yuav tsis raug ib tsoom tebchaws lws dua li lawm, thiab tej tsiaj qus hauv lub tebchaws yuav tsis tom lawv noj li lawm. Lawv yuav nyob tso siab plhuav thiab yuav tsis muaj leejtwg ua rau lawv ntshai. ²⁹Kuv yuav pub tej teb uas qoob loo zoo⚓ rau lawv, kom lawv thiaj li tsis raug kev tshaib hauv lub tebchaws dua li lawm, thiab tsis raug ib tsoom tebchaws saib tsis taus li lawm. ³⁰Mas lawv yuav paub tias kuv uas yog Yawmsaub, yog lawv tus Vajtswv, nrog nraim lawv nyob, thiab paub tias lawv uas yog cov Yixayee yog kuv haiv neeg. Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no. ³¹Nej yog kuv cov yaj, yog cov yaj uas nyob hauv kuv lub tshav zaub, thiab kuv yog nej tus Vajtswv. Vajtswv Yawmsaub hais li no ntag.’ ”