Ezekiel 34:9

⁸‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD!’

Summary

In Ezekiel 34:9, the Lord speaks against the shepherds of Israel who have failed in their responsibility to care for His people. These leaders were supposed to protect, guide, and nurture the flock, but instead, they exploited and neglected them. God's judgment is pronounced on these shepherds, and He declares that He will rescue His sheep Himself, showing His deep concern for the vulnerable and His commitment to being the ultimate Shepherd of His people.

Commentary

John Gill

John Gill Bible Commentary

Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds,.... His heart was against them; his hand was against them; his face was against them, to cut them off. The Targum is, "behold, I will send my fury upon the governors;'' and there was good reason for it, they were against him and his glory, against his flock, his people, his cause, and interest; sad it is for any to have God against them, and to be against God; for none ever hardened themselves against him and prospered, Job 9:4, and I will require my flock at their hand; the full tale of them that have been committed to their care, and will punish them for the neglect of them; their blood, their life, and the loss of them, I will require at their hands; thus he punished Zedekiah and his princes, and the priests and prophets: and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; take the kingdom from them, as he did from Zedekiah; abolish the ecclesiastical hierarchy among the Jews; cut off three shepherds in one month, the priests, prophets, and scribes of the people; and put the flock into other hands, the apostles and ministers of the Gospel: neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; enrich themselves with the substance of the people: for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them; who, instead of being shepherds to feed the flock, were no other than wolves in sheep's clothing, and ravenous lions and bears, which devoured the flock; but this they should do no longer.