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Ezekiel 34:2-10
“ Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and say to them: This is what the Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock.You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered.My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.“ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord.As I live”— the declaration of the Lord God—“ because My flock has become prey and food for every wild animal since they lack a shepherd, for My shepherds do not search for My flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than My flock,therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord!“ This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand My flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue My flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.
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Jeremiah 12:10
Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of land. They have turned My desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.
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Jeremiah 23:1-2
“ Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” This is the Lord’s declaration.“ Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts”— this is the Lord’s declaration.
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John 10:12-13
The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and doesn’t own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them.This happens because he is a hired man and doesn’t care about the sheep.
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Jeremiah 10:8
They are both stupid and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
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Isaiah 56:10-12
Israel’s watchmen are blind, all of them, they know nothing; all of them are mute dogs, they cannot bark; they dream, lie down, and love to sleep.These dogs have fierce appetites; they never have enough. And they are shepherds who have no discernment; all of them turn to their own way, every last one for his own gain.“ Come, let me get some wine, let’s guzzle some beer; and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
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Ezekiel 22:25-30
The conspiracy of her prophets within her is like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her.Her priests do violence to My instruction and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they do not explain the difference between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.“ Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives in order to make profit dishonestly.Her prophets plaster with whitewash for them by seeing false visions and lying divinations, and they say,‘ This is what the Lord God says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident.I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.
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Jeremiah 2:8
The priests quit asking,“ Where is the Lord?” The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the rulers rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.
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Jeremiah 23:9-32
Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord, because of His holy words.For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly usedbecause both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in My house I have found their evil. This is the Lord’s declaration.Therefore, their way will be to them like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. This is the Lord’s declaration.Among the prophets of Samaria I saw something disgusting: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to Me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says concerning the prophets: I am about to feed them wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land.This is what the Lord of Hosts says:“ Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth.They keep on saying to those who despise Me,‘ The Lord has said: You will have peace.’ They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart,‘ No harm will come to you.’”For who has stood in the council of the Lord to see and hear His word? Who has paid attention to His word and obeyed?Look, a storm from the Lord! Wrath has gone out, a whirling storm. It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.The Lord’s anger will not turn back until He has completely fulfilled the purposes of His heart. In time to come you will understand it clearly.I did not send these prophets, yet they ran with a message. I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.If they had really stood in My council, they would have enabled My people to hear My words and would have turned them back from their evil ways and their evil deeds.“ Am I a God who is only near”— this is the Lord’s declaration—“ and not a God who is far away?Can a man hide himself in secret places where I cannot see him?”— the Lord’s declaration.“ Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?”— the Lord’s declaration.“ I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in My name have said,‘ I had a dream! I had a dream!’How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds?Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause My people to forget My name as their fathers forgot My name through Baal worship.The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has My word should speak My word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”— this is the Lord’s declaration.“ Is not My word like fire”— this is the Lord’s declaration—“ and like a hammer that pulverizes rock?Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”— the Lord’s declaration—“ who steal My words from each other.I am against the prophets”— the Lord’s declaration—“ who use their own tongues to make a declaration.I am against those who prophesy false dreams”— the Lord’s declaration—“ telling them and leading My people astray with their falsehoods and their boasting. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all to these people”— this is the Lord’s declaration.
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Zechariah 13:7
Sword, awake against My shepherd, against the man who is My associate— this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; I will also turn My hand against the little ones.
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Zechariah 10:3
My anger burns against the shepherds, so I will punish the leaders. For the Lord of Hosts has tended His flock, the house of Judah; He will make them like His majestic steed in battle.
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Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day.
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Jeremiah 10:14
Everyone is stupid and ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image, for his cast images are a lie; there is no breath in them.
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Jeremiah 50:17
Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; the last one who crushed his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
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Jeremiah 49:32
Their camels will become plunder, and their massive herds of cattle will become spoil. I will scatter them to the wind in every direction, those who shave their temples; I will bring calamity on them across all their borders. This is the Lord’s declaration.
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Jeremiah 8:9
The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and snared. They have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom do they really have?
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Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?
