I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them. He will feed them and be their shepherd. I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be a prince among them. I, the LORD, have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and rid the land of wild animals, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season—showers of blessing. The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them. They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them. And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,' declares the Lord GOD. 'You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,' declares the Lord GOD."
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" declares the LORD. Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend My people: "You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your deeds, declares the LORD. Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock from all the lands to which I have banished them, and I will return them to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or dismayed, nor will any go missing, declares the LORD. Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is His name by which He will be called: The LORD Our Righteousness.
Significance
Ezekiel 34:23-31 and Jeremiah 23:1-6 are parallel exilic-era oracles that move from indicting failed shepherds (רֹעִים, ro'im) to promising a future Davidic ruler. Jeremiah names him צֶמַח צַדִּיק (tsemach tsaddiq, "a righteous Branch") and יהוה צִדְקֵנוּ (YHWH tsidqenu, "The LORD Our Righteousness"), while Ezekiel calls him "My servant David" who will shepherd in a covenant of peace (בְּרִית שָׁלוֹם, berit shalom). Both contemporaneous prophets independently testify that the solution to Israel's leadership crisis is not institutional reform but the eschatological arrival of a single Davidic figure who will combine righteous governance with God's own shepherding care for the flock.
