“As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd. My shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd. My shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep.”

  • KJV King James Version

    As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat 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;

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely forasmuch as My sheep became a prey, and My sheep became food to all the beasts of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did My shepherds search for My sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not My sheep;

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Cross-references (9)

Passages linked to Ezekiel 34:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • 2 Peter 2:13 receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
  • Ezekiel 34:2-3 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
  • Ezekiel 34:5-6 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought.”
  • Ezekiel 34:10 The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
  • Ezekiel 34:18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but must you foul the residue with your feet?
  • Ezekiel 34:31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
  • Acts 20:33 I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing.
  • 1 Corinthians 9:15 But I have used none of these things, and I don’t write these things that it may be done so in my case; for I would rather die, than that anyone should make my boasting void.
  • Jude 1:12 These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (4 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Eze 34:8 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD,…

Eze 34:8 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat 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;

Ver. 8. As I live, saith the Lord, surely because,] {a} God here seemeth to be in a great heat, in a perturbation of spirit, causing a kind of impediment in his speech, so thoroughly was he moved against these lewd shepherds, whose faults he rippeth up again to make better way to their sentence.

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Because my flock became a prey.] To the Chaldees, but especially to that old man slayer.

Because there was no shepherd.] None but a company of nominals, or rather nullities.

{a} Hyperbaton aetiologicum.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain See Eze 34:2,3,5,6.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain No shepherd. Pastors who seek only their temporal advantage,…

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