1. And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2. “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and you must say to them, to the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding themselves! Must not the shepherds feed the flock?
3. The fat you eat, and you clothe yourself with the wool; the well-nourished animals you slaughter, but you do not feed the flock.
4. The weak you have not strengthened, and the sick you have not healed, and with respect to the hurt you have not bound them up, and you have not brought back the scattered, and you have not sought the lost, but rather you ruled over them with force and with ruthlessness.
5. And they were scattered without a shepherd, and they were as food for all the animals of the field when they were scattered.
6. My flock went astray upon all of the mountains and on every high hill, and so upon all the surface of the world my flock were scattered, and there was no one seeking them, and there was no one searching for them.”
7. Therefore, hear, O shepherds, the word of Yahweh:
8. “As I live,” declares the Lord Yahweh, “Surely because my flock have become as plunder, and my flock became as food to all the animals of the field, since there was not a shepherd, since my shepherds have not sought my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and they fed not my flock,’ ”
9. therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh,
10. ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I am against the shepherds, and I will seek my flock from their hand, and I will put an end to them from shepherding flocks, and the shepherds will no longer feed themselves, and I will deliver my flocks from their mouth, so that they will not be as food for them.”
11. “ ‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Look! I, even I, will seek my flock, and I will look after them,
12. just like the caring of a shepherd for his herd on the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on the day of storm and stress.