Jeremiah 23:2

23:2 So the Lord God of Israel has this to say about the leaders who are ruling over his people: “You have caused my people to be dispersed and driven into exile. You have not taken care of them. So I will punish you for the evil that you have done. I, the Lord, affirm it!

Jeremiah 23:11-15

23:11 Moreover, the Lord says,

“Both the prophets and priests are godless.

I have even found them doing evil in my temple!

23:12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.

They will stumble and fall headlong.

For I will bring disaster on them.

A day of reckoning is coming for them.”

The Lord affirms it!

23:13 The Lord says, “I saw the prophets of Samaria

doing something that was disgusting.

They prophesied in the name of the god Baal

and led my people Israel astray.

23:14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem

doing something just as shocking.

They are unfaithful to me

and continually prophesy lies.

So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,

with the result that they do not stop their evildoing.

I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,

and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.

23:15 So then I, the Lord who rules over all,

have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:

‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering

and drink the poison water of judgment.

For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason

that ungodliness has spread throughout the land.’”

Jeremiah 2:8

2:8 Your priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’

Those responsible for teaching my law did not really know me.

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal.

They all worshiped idols that could not help them.

Jeremiah 10:21

10:21 For our leaders are stupid.

They have not sought the Lord’s advice.

So they do not act wisely,

and the people they are responsible for have all been scattered.

Jeremiah 12:10

12:10 Many foreign rulers will ruin the land where I planted my people.

They will trample all over my chosen land.

They will turn my beautiful land

into a desolate wasteland.

Jeremiah 22:22

22:22 My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind!

Your allies will go into captivity.

Then you will certainly be disgraced and put to shame

because of all the wickedness you have done.

Jeremiah 25:34-36

25:34 Wail and cry out in anguish, you rulers!

Roll in the dust, you who shepherd flocks of people!

The time for you to be slaughtered has come.

You will lie scattered and fallen like broken pieces of fine pottery.

25:35 The leaders will not be able to run away and hide.

The shepherds of the flocks will not be able to escape.

25:36 Listen to the cries of anguish of the leaders.

Listen to the wails of the shepherds of the flocks.

They are wailing because the Lord

is about to destroy their lands.

Jeremiah 50:6

50:6 “My people have been lost sheep.

Their shepherds have allow them to go astray.

They have wandered around in the mountains.

They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another.

They have forgotten their resting place.

Isaiah 56:9-12

The Lord Denounces Israel’s Paganism

56:9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,

all you wild animals in the forest!

56:10 All their watchmen are blind,

they are unaware.

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, lie down,

and love to snooze.

56:11 The dogs have big appetites;

they are never full.

They are shepherds who have no understanding;

they all go their own way,

each one looking for monetary gain.

56:12 Each one says,

‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!

Let’s guzzle some beer!

Tomorrow will be just like today!

We’ll have everything we want!’

Ezekiel 22:25-29

22:25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. 22:26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 22:27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey – shedding blood and destroying lives – so they can get dishonest profit. 22:28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 22:29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the foreigner who lives among them and denied them justice.

Ezekiel 34:2-10

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock? 34:3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the choice animals, but you do not feed the sheep! 34:4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them. 34:5 They were scattered because they had no shepherd, and they became food for every wild beast. 34:6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over the entire face of the earth with no one looking or searching for them.

34:7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 34:8 As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, my sheep have become prey and have become food for all the wild beasts. There was no shepherd, and my shepherds did not search for my flock, but fed themselves and did not feed my sheep, 34:9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 34:10 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand my sheep from their hand. I will no longer let them be shepherds; the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore. I will rescue my sheep from their mouth, so that they will no longer be food for them.

Ezekiel 34:21

34:21 Because you push with your side and your shoulder, and thrust your horns at all the weak sheep until you scatter them abroad,

Micah 3:11-12

3:11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases,

her priests proclaim rulings for profit,

and her prophets read omens for pay.

Yet they claim to trust the Lord and say,

“The Lord is among us.

Disaster will not overtake us!”

3:12 Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed up like a field,

Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,

and the Temple Mount will become a hill overgrown with brush!

Zephaniah 3:3-4

3:3 Her princes are as fierce as roaring lions;

her rulers are as hungry as wolves in the desert,

who completely devour their prey by morning.

3:4 Her prophets are proud;

they are deceitful men.

Her priests defile what is holy;

they break God’s laws.

Zechariah 11:5-7

11:5 Those who buy them slaughter them and are not held guilty; those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 11:6 Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the people of the land,” says the Lord, “but instead I will turn every last person over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”

11:7 So I began to shepherd the flock destined for slaughter, the most afflicted of all the flock. Then I took two staffs, calling one “Pleasantness” and the other “Binders,” and I tended the flock.

Zechariah 11:15-17

11:15 Again the Lord said to me, “Take up once more the equipment of a foolish shepherd. 11:16 Indeed, I am about to raise up a shepherd in the land who will not take heed to the sheep headed to slaughter, will not seek the scattered, and will not heal the injured. Moreover, he will not nourish the one that is healthy but instead will eat the meat of the fat sheep and tear off their hooves.

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Matthew 9:36

9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”

John 10:10

10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

John 10:12

10:12 The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.