Bible Strands
Jeremiah 23:1
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” declares the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD addresses the shepherds of His people, the leaders of Judah, in a woe oracle announcing coming judgment.
The words — מְאַבְּדִים (me'abbdim, "causing to perish") and מְפִיצִים (me'fitzim, "scattering") are the two participles that define the charge: not passive neglect but active ruin and dispersal.
The thread — Ezekiel 34:2 opens with the identical formula ("Woe to the shepherds of Israel") and extends the same accusation; Zechariah 11:15 names the "foolish shepherd" as the archetype of this failure.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to see that leadership is a trust before God, and that abandoning the vulnerable is not a lapse but an act of violence that will be reckoned.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the LORD. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
- Zechariah 11:15 And the LORD said to me: “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd.
- Ezekiel 34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?
- Ezekiel 13:3 This is what the Lord GOD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit yet have seen nothing.
- Matthew 9:36 When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
- Jeremiah 12:10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of ground. They have turned My pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.
- Jeremiah 22:22 The wind will drive away all your shepherds, and your lovers will go into captivity. Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your wickedness.
- Isaiah 56:9 Come, all you beasts of the field; eat greedily, all you beasts of the forest.
- Luke 11:42 Woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithes of mint, rue, and every herb, but you disregard justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.
- Jeremiah 2:8 The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.