Ezekiel 34:3

Ezekiel 34:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
• New International Version (NIV)You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.

Context of Ezekiel 34:3

1The Lord gave this message to me: 2‘Son of man, you must speak my message to the shepherds of Israel to warn them. Tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: Terrible trouble will come to you shepherds of Israel who only think about yourselves. Shepherds should take care of the sheep and feed them. You drink their milk and you use their wool to make clothes for yourselves. You kill the best animals to eat. But you do not take care of the sheep! 4You have not helped the weak sheep to be strong. You have not made the sick sheep well. Nor have you covered their wounds. You have not looked for lost sheep and brought them back. Instead, you have ruled my people in a cruel way. 5So my sheep ran away to different places because they did not have a shepherd to take care of them. Then the wild animals found them and ate them.

Ezekiel 34:3 word by word

אֶת־הַחֵ֤לֶב תֹּאכֵ֙לוּ֙ וְאֶת־הַצֶּ֣מֶר תִּלְבָּ֔שׁוּ הַבְּרִיאָ֖ה תִּזְבָּ֑חוּ הַצֹּ֖אן לֹ֥א תִרְעֽוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye eatאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the fatחֵ֫לֶבcheleb chêleb · fatH2459
• and ye clotheלָבֵשׁlâbash lâbêsh · to clotheH3847
• you with the woolצֶ֫מֶרtsemer · woolH6785
• ye killזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• them that are fedבָּרִיאbârîy' · fatH1277
• ye feedרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• not the flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629

Cross-references for Ezekiel 34:3

• Isaiah 56:11They are like dogs who are always hungry. They eat a lot but they never have enough. They are like shepherds who do not understand what to do. They do whatever they want to do, so that it will help them get what they want.
• Zechariah 11:5Those men who buy the sheep will kill them. Nobody will punish them. They will sell them. And they will say, “Thank you Lord, because I am a rich man.” Their own shepherds do not give the sheep any help.’
• Ezekiel 19:3She taught one of her children to catch animals for food. As he grew, he started to eat people.
• Ezekiel 22:25The rulers in the land hurt people, like strong lions that tear animals in pieces. They use their power to destroy people. They take for themselves riches and valuable things that belong to other people. They have killed many men so that there are now many widows in the land.
• Ezekiel 33:25Because they say that, you must tell them, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: You eat meat which still has blood in it. You worship your idols. You also murder people. So you do not deserve to have the land for yourselves.
• 1 Kings 22:13The man who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, ‘All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They say that the king will win the fight. So you must agree with what they are saying. Promise that something good will happen.’
• 2 Kings 21:16Also, Manasseh murdered many people who had not done anything wrong. Their blood was in all the streets of Jerusalem! He caused the people in Judah to do bad things too. He caused them to do things that the Lord said were evil.
• Isaiah 1:10Yes, you are like the rulers of Sodom, so listen to the Lord's message! You are no better than the people in Gomorrah! So listen to what our God is saying to you.
• Jeremiah 2:30‘When I punished your people, they did not change how they lived. When I sent my prophets to you, you killed them as if you were a hungry lion.’
• Jeremiah 22:17‘But you always want to cheat people, so that you can get more riches for yourself. You make plans to kill people who have not done anything wrong. You hurt people in cruel ways.’
• Lamentations 4:13God punished Jerusalem and its people because their leaders sinned. God did not like the things that their prophets and priests did. They had caused good people to die.
• Micah 3:1Then I spoke to the leaders: Listen to me, I said. You are the leaders of Jacob's people, you are the rulers of Israel. You ought to know what is right or wrong.
• Zephaniah 3:3The rulers of the city make a very loud noise with their voices like big wild animals. Its judges are like hungry wolves. They are like wolves that have even eaten all an animal's bones before morning.

Commentaries on Ezekiel 34:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye eat the fat - I think החלב hacheleb should be translated the milk, and so most of the Versions understand it. Or they lived on the fat sheep, and took the wool of all. "The priests," says Calmet, "ate the tithes, the first-fruits, and the offerings of the people; the princes received the tributes and imposts and instead of instructing and protecting them, the latter took away their lives by the cruelties they practiced against them: the former…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-6Woe to the shepherds: Israel’s leaders did not care for the weak or search for those who wandered away and were lost. They pursued their own interests, feeding themselves at the flock’s expense. They ruled the sheep with harshness and cruelty, similar to how the Egyptians treated the Israelites in the time of Moses (Exodus 1:13–14). The neglect and abuse by these cruel shepherds scattered the Lord’s flock across the earth.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. fat--or, by differently pointing the Hebrew, "milk" [Septuagint]. Thus the repetition "fat" and "fed" is avoided: also the eating of "fat" would not probably be put before the "killing" of the sheep. The eating of sheep's or goats' milk as food (De 32:14; Pr 27:27) was unobjectionable, had not these shepherds milked them too often, and that without duly "feeding" them [Bochart], (Is 56:11). The rulers levied exorbitant tributes. kill ... fed--kill the…Read the comment

Topics related to Ezekiel 34:3

• Levites
• Minister, Christian
• Rulers
• Wool

In the dictionaries

• Cruelty
• Dress
• Ezekiel, Book of
• Require
• Seek
• Ezekiel
• Teach; Teacher; Teaching
• Wool

Commentaries on Ezekiel 34

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings