“‘God, the Master, says: From now on, I Myself am the Shepherd. I’m going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been scattered to in the storms. (All the places we wander to – He will bring us back to Goodness and Truth.) I’ll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. (He, the Good Shepherd will bring us back from places foreign to Goodness – the Goodness we were created for and from.) I’ll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. (We will find our Home in Him – His Holy Mountain and we will know Goodness and understand His desire and ability to provide for His Own.) I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. (God setting everything Right.) I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited. (He is coming for all of His Children – His Creation, the strong and the weak.) “‘And as for you, my dear flock, I’m stepping in and judging between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. Aren’t you satisfied to feed in good pasture without taking over the whole place? (Are we not satisfied to simply receive Him without taking over everything?) Can’t you be satisfied to drink from the clear stream without muddying the water with your feet? (Can’t we simply be satisfied with His provision instead of always comparing and competing and owning?) Why do the rest of my sheep have to make do with grass that’s trampled down and water that’s been muddied? (Why must we make everyone suffer for our wandering ways.) “‘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. (Don’t fear! The Good Shepherd will set everything Right. We shall one day See each other as Sons and Daughters of a Good Father; who Loves us all.) “‘I’ll appoint one shepherd over them all: my servant David. He’ll feed them. He’ll be their shepherd. And I, God, will be their God. My servant David will be their prince. I, God, have spoken. (The root of Jesse’s tree – Jesus – from the line of David, has come to lead us from within, making us new.) “‘I’ll make a covenant of peace with them. I’ll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I’ll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. (We will have Peace living within us. The fierce animals that once raged within us to ruin us have been displaced by Goodness itself.) I’ll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing! The trees in the orchards will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they’ll feel content and safe on their land, and they’ll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters. (We no longer have to be slaves to our wanderings – no longer exploited by apolyon and his seemingly debonair ways. We have the Life within us that will give us the courage and strength to Live free from the the ‘fierce beasts’ that are prowling within us; the beasts that are foreign to Goodness.) “‘No longer will they be exploited by outsiders (all that is not Good) and ravaged by fierce beasts (The monsters of desecration). They’ll live safe and sound, fearless and free. I’ll give them rich gardens, lavish in vegetables—no more living half-starved, no longer taunted by outsiders. (We will be filled from the inside with all that cannot be taken and All that is Good… then we will Know.) “‘They’ll know, beyond doubting, that I, God, am their God, that I’m with them and that they, the people Israel, are my people. Decree of God, the Master: You are my dear flock, the flock of my pasture, my human flock, And I am your God. Decree of God, the Master.’” (He is Our God, the One and Only Living God and we are His… and we will Know This.) -Ezekiel‬ ‭34:11-31‬ ‭MSG‬‬