Ezekiel 34:20

Bishop's Bible

Therefore thus saith the Lorde God vnto them: Beholde I [euen] I wyll iudge betweene the fat cattaile and the leane cattaile,

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
So the Lord God says to them: "I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep!

New Living Translation
"Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep.

New American Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says to them: "Behold, I, I Myself will also judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

New Century Version
"‘So this is what the Lord God says to them: I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

New English Translation
"‘Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says to them: Look, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Update Bible Version
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Look, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD to them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

Amplified Bible
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them, "Behold, I Myself will judge between the [well-fed] fat sheep and the lean sheep.

English Standard Version
"Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

World English Bible
Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the Lord God seith these thingis to you, Lo! Y my silf deme bitwixe a fat beeste and a leene beeste.

English Revised Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them: Behold, I, even I, judge between the fat cattle and the lean cattle.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore, this is what the Lord GOD says to them: 'Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Contemporary English Version
So I, the Lord God, will separate you strong sheep from the weak.

American Standard Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Bible in Basic English
For this reason the Lord has said to them, Truly, I, even I, will be judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

Complete Jewish Bible
Therefore here is what Adonai Elohim says to them: ‘I will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep.

Darby Translation
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto them: Behold, [it is] I, and I will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and the lean cattle.

King James Version (1611)
Therefore thus saith the Lord God vnto them, Behold, I, euen I will iudge betweene the fat cattell, and betweene the leane cattell.

New Life Bible
So the Lord God says to them, "I Myself will judge between the fat sheep and the weak sheep.

New Revised Standard
Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Therefore thus sayth the Lorde God vnto them, behold, I, euen I wil iudge betweene the fat sheepe and the leane sheepe.

George Lamsa Translation
Therefore thus says the LORD God to them: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat ewe and the lean ewe.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Therefore Thus, saith My Lord Yahweh, unto them: Here am I myself. Therefore will I judge between fat sheep and lean sheep,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore thus saith the Lord God to you: Behold, I myself will judge between the fat cattle and the lean.

Revised Standard Version
"Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will separate between the strong sheep and the weak sheep.

Good News Translation
"So now, I, the Sovereign Lord , tell you that I will judge between you strong sheep and the weak sheep.

Christian Standard Bible®
“‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

King James Version
Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.

Lexham English Bible
"‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: "Look! I, even I will judge between fat sheep and between lean sheep,

Literal Translation
So the Lord Jehovah says this to them: Behold, I, even I, will even judge between the fat lamb and the lean lamb.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah to them: Lo, I -- even I, have judged between fat sheep and lean sheep.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore, thus sayeth the LORDE God vnto them: Beholde, I will seuer the fat shepe from the leane:

THE MESSAGE
"‘Therefore, God , the Master, says: I myself am stepping in and making things right between the plump sheep and the skinny sheep. Because you forced your way with shoulder and rump and butted at all the weaker animals with your horns till you scattered them all over the hills, I'll come in and save my dear flock, no longer let them be pushed around. I'll step in and set things right between one sheep and another.

New King James Version
"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: "Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them, "Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh to them, "Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ And as for you O my sheepe, saith the Lorde God, I wyll iudge betweene cattaile & cattaile, betweene the rammes and the goates. ¹⁸ Seemeth it a smal thing to you to haue eaten vp the good pasture, and to treade downe the residue of your pasture with your feete also? to drinke the deepe waters, and to trouble the rest also with your feete? ¹⁹ Thus my sheepe must be faine to eate the thing that ye haue troden downe with your feete, and to drinke it that ye with your feete haue defiled. ²⁰ Therefore thus saith the Lorde God vnto them: Beholde I [euen] I wyll iudge betweene the fat cattaile and the leane cattaile, ²¹ Forsomuch as with side and shoulder ye haue shoued, and with your hornes haue pushed all the weake, till ye haue scattered them abroade. ²² I wyll saue my sheepe, so that they shal no more be spoyled, yea I wil iudge betweene cattaile and cattaile. ²³ I wyll set vp ouer them a shepheard, and he shall feede them, euen my seruaunt Dauid, he shall feede them, & he shalbe their shepheard. ²⁴ And I the Lorde wyll be their God, and my seruaunt Dauid shalbe their prince: euen I the Lorde haue spoken it. ²⁵ Moreouer I wyll make a couenaunt of peace with them, & cause euil beastes to ceasse out of the lande: so that they may dwell safely in the wildernesse, and sleepe in the woods. ²⁶ And I wyll set them [as] a blessing euen rounde about my hill, and I wyll cause raine to come downe in due season, [and] there shalbe raine of blessing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Behold: Ezekiel 34:10, Ezekiel 34:17, Psalms 22:12-16, Matthew 25:31-46

Reciprocal: Genesis 6:17 - behold Exodus 14:17 - behold Numbers 18:6 - And I Deuteronomy 31:20 - waxen fat Judges 3:17 - a very fat Isaiah 17:4 - the fatness Jeremiah 23:39 - even I Jeremiah 25:34 - ye principal Ezekiel 7:3 - will judge Ezekiel 18:30 - I will Ezekiel 20:38 - I will purge Ezekiel 24:5 - the choice Zechariah 10:3 - and I Malachi 3:5 - I will come

Cross-References

Genesis 22:17
That in blessing I wyll blesse thee, and in multiplying I wyll multiplie thy seede as the starres of heauen, and as the sande which is vpon the sea side, and thy seede shall possesse the gates of his enemies.

Genesis 23:10
(For Ephron dwelleth amongest the chyldren of Heth) and Ephron the Hethite aunswered Abraham in the audience of the chyldren of Heth, and of all that went in at the gates of his citie, saying:

Deuteronomy 17:5
Then shalt thou bryng foorth that man or that woman (which haue committed that wicked thyng) vnto the gates, and shalt stone them with stones tyll they dye.

Ruth 4:1
Then went Booz vp to the gate, and sat him downe there: and beholde, the kinsman of which Booz spake, came by, vnto whom, he sayde: Ho, suche one, come, sit downe here. And he turned, & sat downe.

2 Samuel 15:2
And Absalom rose vp early, and stoode in the place of the entring in of the gate: And euery man that had any matter and came to the king for iudgement, him did Absalom cal vnto him, and sayde: Of what citie art thou? He aunswered: Thy seruaunt is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Job 29:7
When I went out to the gate, euen to the iudgement seate, and when I prepared my seate in the streete:

Proverbs 31:23
Her husbande is much set by in the gates, when he sitteth among the rulers of the lande.

Amos 5:10
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhorre him that speaketh vprightly.

Amos 5:12
For I knowe your manyfolde transgressions, and your mightie sinnes: they afflict the iust, they take rewardes, and they oppresse the poore in the gate.

Amos 5:15
Hate the euill and loue the good, and establishe iudgement in the gate: it may be, that the Lord God of hoastes wilbe mercifull vnto the remnaunt of Ioseph.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them,.... To the rams and he goats of the flock, that use the pastures and defile the waters after this manner, and make them unfit for the lesser cattle; or that use the poor people of God after this sort:

behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. The Targum is,

"between the rich man and the poor man;''

this is repeated, and in very strong terms, for the confirmation of it: this the Lord promised to do, and he has done it by his son, to whom he committed all judgment; and who, in the days of his flesh, made a difference between those who were full of themselves, self-righteous persons; who were self-sufficient, and needed not repentance, nor any other righteousness but their own; who trusted in themselves, and despised others: and may be meant by the "fat cattle": and between those who were low and mean in their own eyes, humble and meek, weary and heavy laden, hungering and thirsting after the righteousness of another: now for judgment did Christ come, that they which see not might see, and those who saw might be made blind; he called the one, and not the other, to repentance; made known the things of the Gospel to babes, and hid them from the wise and prudent; rejected the one, and had compassion on the other; see John 5:22, and when he comes a second time, he will judge between these, and separate them; and set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left, Matthew 25:31.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Yahweh having promised to be a Ruler of His people, the administration of the divine kingdom is now described, as carried on by One King, the representative of David, whose dominion should fulfill all the promises originally made to the man after God’s own heart. Ezekiel does not so much add to, as explain and develope, the original promise; and as the complete fulfillment of the spiritual blessings, which the prophets were guided to proclaim, was manifestly never realized in any temporal prosperity of the Jews, and never could and never can be realized in any earthly kingdom, we recognize throughout the Sacred Volume the one subject of all prophecy - the Righteous King, the Anointed Prince, the Son and the Lord of David.

Ezekiel 34:23

One shepherd - One, as ruling over an undivided people, the distinction between the kingdoms of Israel and Judah having been done away.

My servant David - David was a fit type of the True King because he was a true and faithful servant of Yahweh. That which David was partially and imperfectly, Christ is in full perfection (compare Matthew 12:18; John 5:30; Hebrews 10:7.)

Ezekiel 34:26

The blessings here foretold are especially those of the old covenant. The wilderness (or, pasture-country) and the woods, the places most exposed to beasts and birds of prey, become places of security. Under the new covenant Sion and the hills around are representative of God’s Church; and temporal blessings are typical of the blessings showered down upon Christ’s Church by Him who has vanquished the powers of evil.

Ezekiel 34:29

A plant - Equivalent to the “Branch,” under which name Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesy of the Messiah. The contrast in this verse to hunger seems to favor the idea that the “plant” was for food, i. e., spiritual food, and in this sense also, applicable to the Messiah (compare John 6:35.)

The shame of the pagan - The shameful reproaches with which the pagan assail them.

Ezekiel 34:31

Translate “Ye are my flock, the flock of my pasture (compare Jeremiah 23:1); ye are men, and I am your God.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ezekiel 34:20. I will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. — Between the rich and the poor; those who fare sumptuously every day and those who have not the necessaries of life.