Ezechiel 34:12
As the shepherd visiteth his flock in the day when he shall be in the midst of his sheep that were scattered, so will I visit my sheep, and will deliver them out of all the places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Open Ezechiel 34:12 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Sicut visitat pastor gregem suum, in die quando fuerit in medio ovium suarum dissipatarum, sic visitabo oves meas, et liberabo eas de omnibus locis in quibus dispersæ fuerant in die nubis et caliginis.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ὥσπερ ζητεῖ ὁ ποιμὴν τὸ ποίμνιον αὐτοῦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὅταν ᾖ γνόφος καὶ νεφέλη ἐν μέσῳ προβάτων διακεχωρισμένων, οὕτως ἐκζητήσω τὰ πρόβατά μου καὶ ἀπελάσω αὐτὰ ἀπὸ παντὸς τόπου οὗ διεσπάρησαν ἐκεῖ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ νεφέλης καὶ γνόφου.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- כְּבַקָּרַת֩ רֹעֶ֨ה עֶדְר֜וֹ בְּיוֹם הֱיוֹת֤וֹ בְתוֹךְ צֹאנוֹ֙ נִפְרָשׁ֔וֹת כֵּ֖ן אֲבַקֵּ֣ר אֶת צֹאנִ֑י וְהִצַּלְתִּ֣י אֶתְהֶ֗ם מִכָּל הַמְּקוֹמֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נָפֹ֣צוּ שָׁ֔ם בְּי֥וֹם עָנָ֖ן וַעֲרָפֶֽל
Haydock's commentary
Day, in persecution. I will count my sheep, lest any be lost.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Cyprian The Epistles of Cyprian, Epistle LIII
4. Nor let any one say, “that he who accepts martyrdom is baptized in his own blood, and peace is not necessary to him from the bishop, since he is about to have the peace of his own glory, and about to receive a greater reward from the condescension of the Lord.” First of all, he cannot be fitted for martyrdom who is not armed for the contest by the Church; and his spirit is deficient which the Eucharist received does not raise and stimulate. For the Lord says in His Gospel: “But when they deliver you up, take no thought what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. …
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, Testimony XIV
In Ezekiel: “Wherefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am above the shepherds; and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will turn them away from feeding my sheep; and they shall feed them no more, and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, and I will feed them with judgment.” In Jeremiah the Lord says: “And I will give you shepherds according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with the food of discipline.” In Jeremiah, moreover: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye nations, and tell it to the islands which are afar off. Say, He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd his flock: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and taken him out from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”
St Gregory Nazianzen In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office
117. Such is my defence: its reasonableness I have set forth: and may the God of peace, Who made both one, and has restored us to each other, Who setteth kings upon thrones, and raiseth up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, Who chose David His servant and took him away from the sheepfolds, though he was the least and youngest of the sons of Jesse, Who gave the word to those who preach the gospel with great power for the perfection of the gospel, may He Himself hold me by my right hand, and guide me with His counsel, and receive me with glory, Who is a Shepherd to shepherds and a Guide to guides: that we may feed His flock with knowledge, not with the instruments of a foolish shepherd, according to the blessing, and not according to the curse pronounced against the men of former days: may He give strength and power unto his people, and Himself present to …
Aphrahat Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations, Of Pastors
3. But those pastors who did not care for the sheep, those were hirelings who used to feed themselves alone. On this account the Prophet addresses them, saying to them: O ye pastors who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord: Lo! I will visit My sheep as the pastor visits his flock in the day of the whirlwind, and I will require My sheep at your hands. O foolish pastors, with the wool of the sheep do ye clothe yourselves and the flesh of the fatlings do eat, and the sheep ye do not feed. That which was sick ye did not heal, and that which was broken ye did not bind. The weak ye did not strengthen, and the lost and the scattered ye did not gather together. The strong ones and the fatlings ye did guard, but with harshness ye subdued them. The good pastures ye yourselves graze upon, and what remains ye trample with your feet. …