Ezekiel 34:16
“I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Continuing the shepherd oracle of Ezekiel 34, this verse reverses the neglect of Israel's failed leaders point by point. Where they wounded and scattered the flock, God promises to seek, restore, bind up, and strengthen the weak, while bringing just judgment on those who grew strong by oppressing others.
What Does Ezekiel 34:16 Mean?
Ezekiel 34:16 lists the tender, restoring works God promises to do for His flock: He seeks the lost, brings back the strayed, binds up the broken, and strengthens the sick. Each phrase answers a specific failure of the false shepherds named earlier in the chapter, who did not strengthen the diseased, heal the sick, bind up the broken, or seek the lost (34:4). What they refused to do, God now vows to do Himself. The verse is a portrait of compassionate care directed precisely at the weakest and most wounded members of the flock.
There is also a sober note: "but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment." The "fat and the strong" are not simply the healthy, but those who grew strong by trampling and devouring the weak. God's care for the vulnerable necessarily means setting things right against those who exploited them. His shepherding is gentle toward the hurting and just toward the cruel; the two go together. For anyone who is weak, lost, or broken, this verse is overflowing comfort -- God Himself attends to exactly your condition. For those who have used strength to harm others, it is a warning that the Shepherd sees and will judge with fairness. Both the comfort and the warning flow from the same loving justice.
In the Original Language
The Hebrew chavash means to bind up or bandage a wound, and the verbs of seeking, returning, and strengthening together describe the full work of a faithful shepherd toward the weak.
Cross References
“The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”
- Ezekiel 34:4
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
- Isaiah 61:1
“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
- Matthew 9:36
Application
Bring your weakness to God rather than hiding it. He does not despise the lost, the strayed, the broken, or the sick -- He moves toward them with healing. And if you have ever wielded strength against the vulnerable, let this verse turn you to repentance, for the Shepherd who heals the weak also defends them.
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