Ezekiel 34:20

Easy-to-Read Version

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

Parallel Translations

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Therefore thus saith the Lorde God vnto them: Beholde I [euen] I wyll iudge betweene the fat cattaile and the leane cattaile,

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ This is what the Lord God says: "And you, my flock, I will judge between one sheep and another. I will judge between the male sheep and the male goats. ¹⁸ You can eat the grass growing on the good land. So why do you also crush the grass that other sheep want to eat? You can drink plenty of clear water. So why do you also stir the water that other sheep want to drink? ¹⁹ My flock must eat the grass you crushed with your feet, and they must drink the water you stir with your feet!" ²⁰ So the Lord God says to them: "I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep! ²¹ You push with your side and shoulder. You knock down all the weak sheep with your horns. You push until you have forced them away, ²² so I will save my flock. They will not be caught by wild animals anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another. ²³ Then I will put one shepherd over them, my servant David. He will feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ Then I, the Lord , will be their God, and my servant David will be the ruler living among them. I, the Lord , have spoken. ²⁵ "And I will make a peace agreement with my sheep. I will take harmful animals away from the land. Then the sheep can be safe in the desert and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will bless the sheep and the places around my hill. I will cause the rains to fall at the right time and will shower them with blessings.

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
I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies.

Genesis 23:10
Ephron was sitting there among the people. He answered Abraham,

Deuteronomy 17:5
you must punish the person who did this evil thing. You must take that man or woman out to a public place near the city gates and kill them with stones.

Ruth 4:1
Boaz went to the place where people gather near the city gates. He sat there until the close relative he had told Ruth about passed by. Boaz called to him, "Come and sit here, friend."

2 Samuel 15:2
Absalom would get up early and stand near the gate. He would watch for anyone with problems who was going to King David for judgment. Then Absalom would talk to them and say, "What city are you from?" They would say they were from such and such tribe in Israel.

Job 29:7
"Those were the days when I went to the city gate and sat in the public meeting of the elders.

Proverbs 31:23
Her husband is a respected member of the city council, where he meets with the other leaders.

Amos 5:10
You hate those prophets, who go to public places and speak against evil, even though they teach good, simple truths.

Amos 5:12
This is because I know about your many sins. You have done some very bad things: You hurt people who do right, you accept money to do wrong, and you keep the poor from receiving justice in court.

Amos 5:15
Hate evil and love goodness. Bring justice back into the courts. Maybe then the Lord God All-Powerful will be kind to the survivors from Joseph's family.

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.