Ezekiel 34:5

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Ezekiel 34:5 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and were scattered.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“And they are scattered from want of a shepherd, And are for food to every beast of the field, Yea, they are scattered.”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Ezekiel 34:5 — 19 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Numbers 27:17who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
  2. 1 Kings 22:17So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
  3. 2 Chronicles 18:16So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
  4. Isaiah 56:9Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
  5. Jeremiah 12:9Is not My inheritance to Me like a speckled bird of prey with other birds of prey circling against her? Go, gather all the beasts of the field; bring them to devour her.
  6. Jeremiah 12:10Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
  7. Jeremiah 23:2Therefore 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.
  8. Jeremiah 50:6My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
  9. Jeremiah 50:17Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
  10. Ezekiel 33:21In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a fugitive from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has been taken!”
  11. Ezekiel 33:28I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
  12. Ezekiel 34:6My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’
  13. Ezekiel 34:8‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because My flock lacks a shepherd and has become prey and food for every wild beast, and because My shepherds did not search for My flock but fed themselves instead,
  14. Ezekiel 34:28They 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.
  15. Zechariah 10:2For idols speak deceitand diviners see illusions;they tell false dreamsand offer empty comfort.Therefore the people wander like sheep,oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
  16. Zechariah 13:7Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,against the man who is My Companion,declares the LORD of Hosts.Strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered,and I will turn My hand against the little ones.
  17. Matthew 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
  18. John 10:2But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
  19. Acts 20:29I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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