Single lesson
Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds
Ezekiel 34:1–10; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Ezekiel 34:25–31
Ezekiel 34:1–10 is a sharp word from Yahweh against Israel’s shepherds. Using the picture of shepherds and sheep, the passage exposes selfish carelessness and shows that Yahweh sees what has happened to his sheep. This lesson also brings together The Good Shepherd, The Covenant of Peace.
Before you teach
These verses begin when Yahweh’s word comes to Ezekiel with a command to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. The passage first states their failure, then describes the scattered condition of Yahweh’s sheep, and finally announces Yahweh’s judgement against the shepherds.
Explain the central teaching of Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds, using two details from the reading. Yahweh judges those responsible for his sheep when they serve themselves and neglect the care he names. This passage teaches that the Lord Yahweh both cares for his flock and judges within it with justice. This passage teaches that Yahweh’s covenant of peace brings security and provision, and leads his people to know that he is with them and that they are his people.
Welcome: Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds
5 minIntroduce “A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds”, “The Good Shepherd”, “The Covenant of Peace” and locate Ezekiel 34:1–10; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Ezekiel 34:25–31. Yahweh judges those responsible for his sheep when they serve themselves and neglect the care he names. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Ezekiel 34:1, Ezekiel 34:6, Ezekiel 34:10
Read and explain the passage
12 minA Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds (Ezekiel 34:1–10): The passage opens with Yahweh speaking and sending Ezekiel to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. The first accusation is direct: these shepherds feed themselves. The image in the passage contrasts shepherds, who are responsible for Yahweh’s sheep, with the sheep who should have been fed.
The Good Shepherd (Ezekiel 34:11–24): The passage opens with strong emphasis: “I myself, even I” will search for my sheep. The Lord compares his care to a shepherd finding scattered sheep. He says he will deliver them, gather them from many places, and bring them into their own land. The repeated “I will” shows that this rescue comes from the Lord himself.
The Covenant of Peace (Ezekiel 34:25–31): Yahweh begins with a promise: “I will make with them a covenant of peace”. The verse explains this peace in practical ways. Evil animals will cease from the land, and the people will dwell securely, even in the wilderness and woods. The emphasis is on Yahweh giving safety where danger might be expected.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds”, “The Good Shepherd”, “The Covenant of Peace”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Ezekiel 34:1, Ezekiel 34:2, Ezekiel 34:11, Ezekiel 34:12, Ezekiel 34:13, Ezekiel 34:25
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What does the passage contrast between feeding themselves and feeding the sheep?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. This passage teaches that Yahweh’s covenant of peace brings security and provision, and leads his people to know that he is with them and that they are his people. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Ezekiel 34:2, Ezekiel 34:3, Ezekiel 34:18, Ezekiel 34:19, Ezekiel 34:30, Ezekiel 34:31
Make and respond: Vision and message evidence map
12 minWork on “Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds: Vision and message evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds”, “The Good Shepherd”, “The Covenant of Peace” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Ezekiel 34:1, Ezekiel 34:16, Ezekiel 34:31
Closing: return to The Covenant of Peace
3 minRevisit Ezekiel 34:25–31. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about The Covenant of Peace and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Ezekiel 34:25, Ezekiel 34:28, Ezekiel 34:31
Questions to explore
What does the passage contrast between feeding themselves and feeding the sheep?
Notice how Yahweh describes the shepherds taking fat, wool, and fatlings for themselves while the sheep are left unfed.
Ezekiel 34:2, Ezekiel 34:3
How do the pictures of trampled pasture and fouled water help explain the Lord’s complaint against some sheep?
Use the images in the text to think about people enjoying good things themselves while damaging them for others.
Ezekiel 34:18, Ezekiel 34:19
How do the final verses describe who the people are and who Yahweh is to them?
Gather the phrases about Yahweh being with them, calling them his people, naming them his sheep and saying, “I am your God”.
Ezekiel 34:30, Ezekiel 34:31
Make, think or respond
Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds: Vision and message evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “What the passage describes”, “What is explained in the text”, “What question remains”.
- Read Ezekiel 34:1–10; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Ezekiel 34:25–31. Use “A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds”, “The Good Shepherd”, “The Covenant of Peace” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Circle an explanation the passage itself provides. Leave unexplained details as questions for further reading.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Ezekiel 34: A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “A Prophecy against Israel’s Shepherds”, “The Good Shepherd”, “The Covenant of Peace” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of Ezekiel 34:1–10; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Ezekiel 34:25–31. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Ezekiel 34:1–10; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Ezekiel 34:25–31. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Ezekiel 34
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “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?
3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 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.”
7 “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
8 “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, and my shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep,
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word!”
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.”
11 “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture, and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh.
16 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back 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 in justice.” ’
17 “As for you, O my flock, the Lord Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
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?
19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.’
20 “Therefore the Lord Yahweh says to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad,
22 therefore I will save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
25 “ ‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.
30 They will know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.
31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.