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From: Ezekiel 34:11-16

The Lord, the Shepherd of Israel

[11] “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep,
and will seek them out. [12] As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of
his sheep” have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will
rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds
and thick darkness. [13] And I will bring them up from the peoples, and gather
them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed
them on the mountains of Israel, by the fountains, and in all the inhabited pla-
ces of the country. [14] I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the moun-
tain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good
grazing land, and on fat pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. [15]
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says
the Lord God. [16] I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I
will bind up the crippled, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the
strong I will watch over;” I will feed them in justice.

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Commentary:

34:11-22. Ezekiel says that God has made himself a shepherd for his people
(v. 11); he always looks out for them (vv. 12-16), neglecting none. This solici-
tude includes the practice of justice (vv. 17-22); in this new stage it becomes
clearer that divine love and mercy are compatible with condemnation of the wic-
ked (v. 20): in fact, love can never exclude justice. This beautiful oracle resounds
in our Lord’s parable of the Good Shepherd who takes care of his sheep (cf. Jn
10:1-21), in what he says about the Father’s joy on finding the lost sheep (cf.
Mt 18: 12-14; Lk 15:4-7), and in things he has to say about the Last Judgment
as reported by St Matthew (Mt 25:31-46). In a sermon on pastors, St Augustine
comments: “He stands guard over us when we are awake and while we sleep. If
an earthly flock is safe in the vigilant care of a human shepherd, how much more
secure are we, who have God as our shepherd, not only because he desires to
teach and help us, but because he is our creator. “As for you, my flock, thus
says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, rams and he-
goats” (Ezek 34:17). Why are he-goats to be found among God’s flock? Goats
who will be sent to the left, and sheep that will be called to the right side of God,
are to be found in the same fields and by the same streams; and He tends to-
gether those who will later be separated. The meek patience of sheep is an imi-
tation of the patience of God. He will separate the flock later, sending some to
the right and some to the left” (”Sermones”, 47).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.